Barry joins Man. City for £12 million

England and Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry has joined Manchester City for 12 million pounds, the Premier League club said yesterday.

The 28-year-old, who has been at Villa for 12 years after joining as a trainee, signed a five-year contract, City said in a statement.

Barry was close to moving to Liverpool a year ago but the clubs could not agree a fee and the deal eventually fell through.

In total contrast, yesterday's deal was done in a matter of hours following Villa's lunchtime announcement that their captain was in talks with City.

Predominantly a left-sided midfielder, Barry has also impressed in a more central role and is a favourite of England coach Fabio Capello.

Barry is currently with Capello's squad preparing for Saturday's 2010 World Cup qualifying match in Kazakhstan and next week's home game against Andorra when he will expect to add to his tally of 29 caps.

His signing could be the first of many at City in the close-season as manager Mark Hughes looks to use the millions of the club's Arab owners to build a squad to improve upon the team's 10th-place finish.

Last September City paid a British record 32 million pounds to Real Madrid for Brazil striker Robinho.