Mirror: Aston Villa, Everton and Middlesbrough could land Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell for £2m but his wages could be a stumbling block.

Mirror: Rafa Benitez last night angrily hit back at Martin O'Neill for accusing him of being "disrespectful" and unsettling Gareth Barry. And in another blunt message to one of his Premier League rivals, the Liverpool boss told Portsmouth's Harry Redknapp he will have to stump up £15million for Peter Crouch. Benitez was in fighting mood yesterday and revealed he rang O'Neill three weeks ago to declare his interest in Barry. He was astonished when O'Neill claimed Liverpool were out of order for tabling a £10million bid and insists the Reds have done nothing wrong. "I was surprised by part of his comments," said Benitez. "I had a private conversation with him 20 days ago. "He knew everything about my idea and I knew about his idea. He said he wanted to talk with his owner. "We needed to do an official movement and he knew that because I was talking with him." Benitez has agreed to back off until the end of the campaign and plans more talks with Villa for Barry next week. "He was very clear so we must wait until the end of the season and then we will try again," he said. "We will wait and respect his decision."

Telegraph: Arsenal are preparing to enter the race to sign Gareth Barry and are also considering a bid for £12 million rated Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani.

Guardian: Rafael Benítez said yesterday that it would take an offer of £15m to tempt Liverpool to allow Peter Crouch to leave this summer while maintaining he had done everything above board in his pursuit of Aston Villa's Gareth Barry. Crouch, 27, has a year to run on his contract and Benítez said he was offered an extension at the end of last year. Times: Martin O'Neill has told Liverpool that they are undervaluing Gareth Barry, the Aston Villa captain, after last week's £10million, cash plus players, offer. The Villa manager has spoken to Barry and agreed that detailed talks over the England midfield player's future should be delayed until after the season finishes on Sunday, when Villa could qualify for fifth place in the Barclays Premier League. "At the moment it would be like me offering Barcelona £20 million for Lionel Messi. They would say, 'So what?'" O'Neill said. "We're absolutely millions of miles apart, although we want to keep Gareth here and build a team around him anyway.This lad is playing for England. But the point you're leading me to is if they meet a certain valuation, then we'll do it and that's not the case. "First of all he has two years left to run on his contract and secondly you don't want to be keeping unhappy players. But at this minute, until the story broke in the newspapers, I hadn't heard about Gareth being unhappy. I've spoken to Gareth and we'll have further discussions after the season's over."

Times: Martin O'Neill is preparing to enter the Intertoto Cup. If Everton qualify for the Uefa Cup, Villa would need to better Blackburn Rovers' result to claim the only Intertoto spot. "That's really the focus," the manager said.

Independent: The defender Martin Laursen has spoken of his delight at his successful season at Villa Park. "The aim for me was to play as many games as possible and try to score goals," the Dane said. "And I've done that. I wanted to get a new contract and got that as well, so I couldn't be more pleased."

Sporting Life: Defender Martin Laursen has revealed his pride at proving the doubters wrong by starting every Premier League game for Aston Villa this season. The Denmark international had been dogged by knee problems for nearly three years and the sceptics wondered if he would have to hang up his boots. But the former AC Milan player has been an ever present in Villa's bid for a European spot going into the final game of the campaign at West Ham on Sunday. Laursen, who signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract in January, said: "I have 100% recovered from my knee injury. I don't have any problems any more. "People wondered if I could come back but I've played every game in the league and that has given me immense satisfaction. "If I am lucky with injuries in the future I think I can carry on for a long time. I certainly have some energy that I have to come out of me now because I haven't played much until this season since coming to Villa. "I definitely feel I haven't played enough but these are exciting times ahead for the club. We have a good promising side, good young players with desire and skill and quality to do well. "That is why I am really happy to be a part of this because I really think the future is bright, especially with a manager like Martin O'Neill."

Sky Sports: Skysports.com understands Aston Villa are lining up a double raid on Leicester for Joe Mattock and Richard Stearman. Villa are hoping to capitalise on Leicester's relegation from the Championship by luring the highly-rated duo away from the Walkers Stadium. Mattock and Stearman were two of Leicester's shining lights in a disappointing campaign and a number of clubs flocked to the Walkers Stadium to watch the pair throughout the season. The defensive duo are regarded as two of the most promising players in England and tipped for big futures in the game. 17-year-old Mattock was the subject of a failed bid from West Ham during the January transfer window and he is the second youngster ever player to represent England Under 21s. Right-back Stearman is also a member of the England Under 21 set-up and he won Leicester's player of the year award this term.

Coverage From Abroad

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