Benitez keen to conclude Barry deal

Pa
Monday 18 August 2008 05:38 EDT
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Rafael Benitez remains desperate to complete his long-running pursuit of Gareth Barry before the end of the month, but has denied that complications in finalising the transfer brought him to the verge of quitting as Liverpool manager.

Benitez watched his side bounce back from their disappointing Champions League stalemate against Standard Liege with a somewhat fortunate 1-0 win over Sunderland on Saturday, but post-match talk immediately turned to off-field matters.

Reports over the weekend suggested the manager was considering his position after disagreements over the Barry move - Benitez is eager to add the England international but chief executive Rick Parry has questioned the reputed £18m asking price as well as the player's age - but the Spaniard moved decisively to quash such rumours.

He said: "My commitment is 100 per cent - with the fans, with the players and with the club in general. I say 100 times my family is happy here - we want to win trophies at this club because it is a massive club."

He added: "I will not talk about any player - but in April I was talking about this (behind the scenes).

"We tried to do things in confidentiality, but sometimes you cannot and you need to explain before the end of the transfer window. If the manager has an idea and it is not a question of money, then we have to make the right decisions in terms of whom we bring in. That has to be the decision of the manager."

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