Aston Villa Academy: Louie Barry must up his goalscoring output to force move back to Villa Park
Louie Barry has long been touted as the single brightest prospect to graduate from the Aston Villa academy, but he has struggled to find his free-flowing best on loan at MK Dons this season.
After an impressive loan spell at Swindon Town in the second half of last season, where he netted six goals in 14 appearances, the 19-year-old decided to make the step up to League One this campaign – but has failed to make the grade so far.
From his 21 appearances this term, just 12 have been starts, and he has netted just one goal and provided three assists in the process. Now, this is no dig at the young striker, as tricky spells such as this can either make or break a player, but considering his talent, the Villa hierarchy would have hoped for Barry to be scoring more goals.
At his best, Barry is a frightening prospect for defences to deal with. He is pacey, skilful on the ball and extremely composed in one-on-one situations, as proven by his first goal for MK Dons against Derby County in November when he rounded the keeper with apparent ease and passed the ball into an open net.
A once product of West Brom’s academy, and an ex-Barcelona player, there was much excitement when Aston Villa announced his signing in January 2020.
After arriving in the West Midlands, he tore up the Premier League 2, scoring 13 times in 17 appearances, as well as netting a memorable goal for Villa’s first team in the FA Cup against Liverpool.
This season, however, the youngster has lost his goalscoring boots in an MK Dons side marooned in the League One relegation zone and, as a result, is yet to play a full 90 minutes.
It is likely a confidence issue, as happens with every young striker, but if he wishes to get a recall to be a part of Unai Emery’s first-team plans in the coming seasons, he will need to increase his goal output. The likes of Cameron Archer have shown how a purple patch of form can transform loan players’ futures at their parent clubs, and Barry will look to replicate Archer’s impressive feats in the football league.
Enduring tough spells are all part of a young footballer’s journey, and hopefully, Barry can come out the other side of his and start to flourish at MK Dons.
In other Aston Villa news, Dan Bardell believes Unai Emery must make the most out of a favourable run of fixtures if he hopes to climb up the Premier League table.