Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has said keeping Gareth Barry at Villa Park is the most important thing as Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are linked with the Villa skipper ahead of the summer transfer period.

The 27-year-old midfielder has had a splendid season for club and England and as such has become a target for the top Premiership clubs.

"Obviously trying to keep Gareth Barry at the football club will be the most important thing that we're trying to do in the summertime," O'Neill told the club's official website.

"A player of Gareth's undoubted quality and ability would take some replacing, so keeping him at Aston Villa is as important as anything we do in the transfer market."

O'Neill’s side are still in with a chance of finishing fifth in the Premiership table, and the Irishman is keen to bolster the squad in the summer.

"I want to really keep the progress going. We want to try and step forward again and we're looking to add that extra quality to the quality that we have. We definitely need more," he asserted.

"That gets harder as you go along because you're trying to add to a better side. But we're trying to progress and we have got to do it, otherwise we wouldn't just stand still, we would probably regress.

"There's no standing still in Premier League football because there's always someone looking over your shoulder.

"Look at the sides next season that have got this driving ambition. Tottenham Hotspur have just spent £16-18million on a young kid who has never sampled the Premier League! He looks a really good player.

"So they're showing their intentions. Newcastle will want to compete and Sunderland are averaging 43,000 gates. So it's going to be even tougher next year.

"Being back in the Premier League and having had two seasons to look at it, I believe that for us now to compete we have to add to what we've got."