Liverpool have been involved in some high-profile transfer sagas throughout their history.

The Reds have had a summer to remember after spending over £300m, a figure that is only expected to rise, significantly too if they do end up signing Alexander Isak.

However, there was a time when transfers appeared much simpler, or at least a lot cheaper for that matter, although Liverpool still found themselves embroiled in transfer sagas of sorts.

One involved Gareth Barry in 2008, with the Englishman keen on a move to Anfield from Aston Villa, although the deal never materialised.

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This famously had a knock-on effect in the future of Xabi Alonso, with the Spaniard moving to Real Madrid just a year later.

Nobody was too sure why this transfer never happened and why it was made such a big deal, but Villa manager at the time, Martin O’Neill, has revealed the exact reason why Barry never made the switch to Liverpool.

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The Reds have been known in recent times to only negotiate on their own terms, hence why they seem to pull off some incredible deals.

However, this has not always worked and in 2008, they were keen on Barry but had a price they were willing to go up to in their head.

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Despite this being just £2m short of Villa’s valuation, both sides remained firm on their stance, with O’Neill revealing that Liverpool walked away despite having the money to complete the move.

“I had my captain, this was when I was at Aston Villa, Gareth Barry wanted to leave the football club and he wanted to go to Liverpool,” O’Neill told talkSPORT.

“I wanted him to stay but we put a price on his head at the time, if Liverpool were going to meet that price, it was fine.

“But they didn’t meet that price, they were a couple million pounds short and the chairman stood steadfast and said ‘no, this is the price.’

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“Gareth wasn’t too happy about it, but Liverpool decided that was it, they weren’t going to go any further.

“What was disappointing for Gareth was about two weeks later, I think we were looking for £10m and Liverpool went to £8m, Liverpool said they didn’t have it and then went and spent £20m on Robbie Keane.”

Barry went to Manchester City a year later and enjoyed an illustrious career, finishing it as the highest appearance-maker in Premier League history with 653 games.

As for Liverpool, they lost out on a hugely talented player and then lost Alonso not too long after, showing how stubbornness came back to bite them.

Fast forward 17 years and Liverpool find themselves in a similar scenario, although the money involved is astronomically higher this time.

Newcastle are reluctant to let Isak leave but would do if their £150m valuation is met, but Liverpool are wanting to do a deal at around £120m.

After chasing him all summer and being prepared to go all-in for him if he becomes available, Liverpool just need to pay the asking price, or at least bid close to it, or else they risk missing out on him like they did with Barry.

Of course, they are very different players, but losing out on Isak and letting him join a rival later down the line would have much bigger implications, so the Reds need to act quickly and pay the fee.
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