O'Neill is resigned to losing Barry even though he will demand Liverpool meet his £18million valuation of the player before the saga comes to an end.

Olof Mellberg, Thomas Sorensen and Patrik Berger have already left since the end of last season plus on loan Liverpool goalkeeper Scott Carson.

But O'Neill is determined Villa will avoid a repeat of last season when they finished sixth in the Premier League despite having the smallest squad in the division.

He said: "We're hoping to try to add to the squad. The players did fantastically last season but we had the smallest squad in the Premier League.

"We wouldn't want that to happen this season so we're going to address it. Even if Gareth had decided to stay, we were still going to address it.

"But now it's even more important to do it than ever. It's the time for anticipation now. Players are back for pre-season training and, with the European Championships out of the way, it's obviously all systems go for everyone."