Gareth Barry: I was not given a chance at Manchester City under Manuel Pellegrini before loan move to Everton I was still keen to meet the new manager and try to impress him because I wasn't going to just roll over and look for a move without him even seeing me play and watching me closely. But it just didn't happen throughout the pre-season and it was definitely time to move on. The club haven't pushed me out. I had a normal pre-season, I was part of the squad, got minutes in the games and trained every day. But then when the squads started getting announced and I wasn't travelling for friendlies, the writing was on the wall very early. Once I'd been told I wasn't going to play regular football I'm experienced enough to know the club were looking at other players and I wasn't part of their plans. So what happened is what I thought would happen, but I still wanted that chance to meet the new manager, train regularly, for him to see me in pre-season games and show him what I could do, but I wasn't going to get that chance. You're always a bit disappointed because I would have backed myself to play well for City if I'd got the chance, but it's football, it's opinions and they chose to go down a different route, which I totally respect. I would not have been a happy person sitting there. Even in pre-season friendlies when I didn't travel to play I was a bit grumpy. I have seen players who sit around not playing but picking up their wages and you can make a joke of it being an easy life, but generally footballers who aren't playing are not happy. The manager told me he had two in every position and I wasn't even one of those. Barry's arrival at Goodison was part of a trio of deals generating a sense of buoyancy the club has been unaccustomed to on transfer deadline day. James McCarthy and Romelu Lukaku's capture tempered any disappointment at losing Marouane Fellaini for £27.5 million, but there was a sense of satisfaction that even that sale was for a fee beyond the Belgian's original exit clause. The Merseyside club cut it fine, though, Barry offering an insight into the hectic final few hours. "I was sitting at home about 7pm and then you get a call," said Barry. Then you're sitting in your car and they're saying it's not done so you can't make the full journey into the training ground. I was driving around, just wasting time, and then eventually stopped for a coffee. When it got to about 10.30 I was just around the corner - quite close, but not in sight of the cameras because you learn all the time from things you've seen before. I was watching that last year [with Peter Odemwingie]. Speaking to people on the phone you're getting reassurances, but when it's getting towards half 10, you're thinking, "there's not much time here!' "I didn't come in through the door until after 10.30, and you start thinking, "what's the point when I start panicking?" You do start fearing the worst and I did start thinking that I might have to go into training with Man City tomorrow. I'm sitting here and all of a sudden James McCarthy walks in through the door. We were watching Sky Sports and saw Lukaku was done as well, so that was great news. Barry now has his sights on a possible England recall in time for the World Cup, should Hodgson's side make it. He also hopes to impress Roberto Martínez enough to earn a permanent deal next summer. "Last season I still felt I was playing consistently well in a top team to merit call-ups but again it's about opinions and other players can affect it too," he said. Every footballer wants to feature in the World Cup. That would be a massive bonus at this stage. But there's a lot of hard work between now and then.