Who needs Barry when you've got Barry Ban...hang on...

talkSPORT are reporting that Aston Villa has turned down the chance to take Gareth Barry on loan.

The left sided glory hunter eventually jumped ship to join moneybags Manchester City in 2009 after spending his last year at Villa under a cloud after trying to force a move to fading giants Liverpool.

He bagged a Premier League winners medal in 2012.

However Man City's new boss wants to put his own stamp on the squad and ageing players like Barry are thought to be surplus to requirements and available for loan deals, with high salaries making permanent moves difficult to broker.

talkSPORT claims that sources close to the Manchester club have revealed that Villa have been sounded out about taking Barry back on a loan deal.

Unsurprisingly, Villa were said to be not interested in the deal, busy trying to offload their own has-beens as a crop of new young signings are bedded in at Villa Park.

talkSPORT's article