Reports on Friday claim Liverpool have now agreed a fee with Italian side Juventus for midfielder Xabi Alonso.

Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport say Liverpool have accepted an €18m (£14.2m) bid and state Juventus have made it clear this is their final bid for the player, as Liverpool were hoping for £16m initially.

The seemingly imminent sale of Alonso paves the way for Liverpool to up their bid for his replacement Gareth Barry, with a £13m bid having been rejected on Wednesday and Villa wanting nearer £20m for their captain.

Villa boss Martin O’Neill spoke about the Barry saga saying “Gareth and I had a little chat when he got back from holiday and he has said he would fancy going to Liverpool. That’s obviously a big setback to us, but the offer from Liverpool is just not acceptable. He was the last person to have the captain’s armband in the last England game - so the offer Liverpool have made is just not acceptable even though they have upped it.”

“I think it might be difficult to keep him because he has more than intimated to me that he fancies going to Liverpool so it’s a big setback to us. It’s very frustrating. We finished sixth and he played a major part in that and it was just looking like we could improve matters, because the club is capable of doing that.”