Barry the key to City spending spree

MARK HUGHES is convinced the early arrival of Gareth Barry helped trigger Manchester City’s £120 million (€131m) summer spending spree.

Barry concluded negotiations with City over a £12m (€13.1m) move from Aston Villa during an England World Cup double-header at the end of last season.

Having been denied a “dream” move to Liverpool 12 months earlier, Barry – who returns to Villa for the first time tonight – was in no mood to hang around again, despite City’s lack of Champions League credentials.

For Hughes, the spin-off was a significant statement of intent, which proved the prelude to a flurry of transfer activity aimed at propelling the Eastlands outfit into the top four.

“Gareth was always a player I had admired from afar,” recounted Hughes. “I just felt he was a player we needed to bring to the club.

“To a certain extent it helped other players to come as well.

“The fact we were able to get one of the key men in the England set-up under Fabio Capello helped our strategy in terms of acquisitions of players.”

Villa manager Martin O’Neill believes City already pose a “genuine threat” to the Premier League’s established big four.

“You can draw comparisons with Chelsea a few years ago,” O’Neill said. “They had a talented manager in place (Jose Mourinho) and won two Premier League titles on the bounce.

“They made Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal sit up and take notice.

“City are a very big threat to the top four. They are playing with a great deal of confidence and very well. They are a genuine threat to the top four, even as soon as this year.’’