Everton must pay £2.5m transfer fee to Man City to sign free agent Gareth Barry
Cost: Gareth Barry (left) will cost Everton despite being out of contract in the summer
Everton will have to pay Manchester City £2.5million if Gareth Barry joins them this summer, write Tom Hopkinson and Pete Oliver for the Sunday People.
The former England midfielder is set to play the last game of his season-long loan with Roberto Martinez’s side against Hull this afternoon.
And he will become a free agent when his contract with City expires at the end of the season.
Martinez insists he is hopeful of signing Barry on a permanent deal but realises his club are at a disadvantage because of a clause written into the loan agreement when the 33-year-old joined them last August.
It states that City will be due the backdated fee if he does complete the move to Everton.
Arsenal, Chelsea, West Ham and Tottenham, who are also interested, would not have to pay the Premier League title favourites anything, meaning they can offer Barry much better personal terms.
Martinez said: “After the Hull game we will sit down and see how Gareth feels. It’s clear that we want him here for the long, long term and every supporter will tell you that.
“We respect Gareth and he is at a perfect age to make good decisions not based just on finances. I just hope we can carry on working with Gareth for a long time.
“I don’t think you can replace Gareth because there are not many footballers with more than 500 games in the Premier League.
“He’s a unique talent and I always said that it’s very rare to find a No.6 like that in the English game.”
The midfielder, who won 53 caps for the Three Lions, is also a target for City’s new United States franchise New York City.
They will compete in the MLS from next season and are considering a bid to make Barry one of their three marquee players.
Should Barry agree to sign for the New York club then he will also look for a side to join on loan in the Premier League until the end of January, when he would jet off across the Atlantic.
Everton would be interested in taking him on loan for the first part of the season and the fact he is not joining them permanently means there would be no fee.
Martinez wants to keep Barry alongside youngsters Ross Barkley and James McCarthy as a perfect midfield blend of youth and experience, with the Goodison chief adamant England prospect Barkley is going nowhere.
He added: “Ross knows he needs to stay at Everton. He knows that playing in Europe next season and having an even bigger role next season is a normal step.”
Barkley’s first taste of European competition will come in the Europa League and, after missing out on fourth place to Arsenal, Martinez admits Champions League football would have come too soon.
He said: “Being honest, we are not ready for the Champions League for many reasons.
“The introduction into European football and to get ready for the demands of travelling around Europe is better with the Europa League.”
