Guess only time will tell if it's worth selling him or not. I got a lot of respect for Parker as he gives 110% every time, but he has been pretty poor for us going forward. Perhaps with a proper manager at the helm (I dont rate Souness or Roeder as proper managers compared to Sam Allerdyce!) he would be coached in to playing much better than what he has done for us so far. Nicky Butt can have the DM role instead if Parker goes, so its not like were stuck without him (unless Butt get's injured).
£8.5 million is good money, even using part of that to land Barton is great thinking, but Barton is a massive twat and he will cause problems at any club he ends up at.