Aston Villa have disciplined captain Gareth Barry for a newspaper interview he gave at the weekend.

Liverpool are keen to sign Barry and a deal appears to be inevitable.

The clubs have not yet agreed a fee but Barry will not join up with the rest of the Villa squad for the start of pre-season training this week.

Villa manager Martin O'Neill has also denied reports suggesting Liverpool have made a 'take-it-or-leave-it' offer of £15 million for Barry.

O'Neill said: "There's no truth in this morning's reports and the situation remains the same.

"Gareth will not be returning to training tomorrow and he has been disciplined after giving an unauthorised interview to the News of the World."

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