Ambitious Barry warns Villa to spend big or he will be on his bike

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With speculation mounting that he is a summer target for Chelsea and Liverpool, England midfielder Barry, 27, chose the eve of the Birmingham derby to spell out his desperation to win silverware after a decade at Villa that has brought one FA Cup loser's medal.

Barry: 'The next two to three years are going to be the peak of my career'

Barry said: 'Every player wants to play at the highest level. I want a chance to play Champions League at some stage of my career.

"I can't sit here and say I've not been well paid over the last 10 years. So anything I do now will be the right thing for my career.

"I'm 100 times happier than I was two years ago, and everything the manager promised me then is coming true. I'm not sure how fast he wanted to challenge for the Champions League or to play in the UEFA Cup but two years down the line, we are looking at fifth.

"In my eyes, that's good progress. But it's about medals. I've played a lot of games and some big games for my country but you have to look at yourself and what you really want to achieve.

"It goes without saying that you want to finish with one bit of silverware and, hopefully, more.

"I've always said the ideal situation would be to do it at Aston Villa, but I've got to look at myself and be selfish as to what I want to achieve. The next two or three years are going to be the peak of my career.

"We've had years of challenging for fourth or fifth. Then we have fallen away. That's the next step this club have to take — competing year in, year out."

O'Neill, who added to speculation by "pleading the Fifth" when asked if he had been contacted by any clubs about his captain, said: "We have to do our best to keep the likes of him here.

"I'm keen to put a side together capable of challenging. Our best way of achieving that is keeping our best players, like Gareth. However, that's big talk from me."