Benitez slams Barry for moving purely "for money"

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has switched his ire to Gareth Barry after criticising Manchester City's transfer approach.

GettyImages

Gareth Barry was a great buy for Mark Hughes

Benitez slammed City's tactic of throwing cash at the transfer market on Thursday, and he has now hit out at Barry for moving to Eastlands for no reason other than money after he missed out on one of his prime transfer targets.

The England midfielder was top of Rafa's wanted list all through last summer with the player desperate to open talks with the Anfield club. But Aston Villa held on to their captain and the Reds were expected to step up their efforts this summer.

Barry, however, made a shock £12m move to Mark Hughes' Man City as soon as the Premier League season finished.

The player's decision to turn his back on a move to one of the top flight's big four clubs, and a team which finishing just four points behind Manchester United, has bewildered Benitez who now clearly feels their was no sporting integrity in the decision.

Benitez, in his latest rant during a press conference to unveil Glen Johnson, said: "If you move just for money, sometimes you will make mistakes. I would say Gareth Barry comes into that category. I have an idea that in the market we are in, money is not the main thing.

"Everyone at this level in football earns a lot of money. You have to think instead about where you would enjoy playing and do your best to make the right decisions. I won't say too much about [Barry] but it is clearly just for money.

"Maybe it is not a bad thing to miss out on him. The most important thing is to decide on the passion of the player to do well.

"When I spoke to Glen [Johnson], he was very keen to learn and to come here and improve. He knows we will work hard to make him better, in defence and in attack. We had to pay good money because he had good offers, but for us to get an England international, with his desire to be successful here, is very important."