Louie Barry concerns emerge as Aston Villa loanee caught up in ‘violent’ incident – BBC pundit
We’re delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park…
Alan Hutton is concerned Louie Barry is going to live up to his potential at Aston Villa as his loan spell at Salford went from bad to worse at the weekend.
Barry, 19, has been sent out on loan four times by Villa in the last two seasons but none of them have lasted a full campaign with the size and stature of the club gradually getting worse.
The former West Brom and Barcelona youth star started off at Ipswich in League One before then being loaned out to Swindon, Milton Keynes Dons and now League Two side Salford.
Since joining Salford, Barry has played 16 times, starting just 10 times in the fourth tier and scoring only two goals in the process.
The striker was then sent off for “violent conduct” in Salford’s 3-2 win at Walsall on Saturday (22 April).
Hutton believes that because expectations were so high for the England youth international, he may now be struggling to meet expectations and might not get into Villa’s senior squad.
“This is a guy who came with huge promise,” Hutton told Villa News.
“He went from West Brom to Barcelona and then back to Villa. He had a massive move and I remember all the people talking about how he’s going to be the next best thing.
“There was a lot of pressure on him early on and to my knowledge at this moment in time, he’s struggled to deal with that.
“They really thought he was going to be the next best thing and get into the first team but he has struggled.
“Too much too soon? Possibly. Time will tell but there can be a little bit of frustration.
“I’ve not seen the sending off but it’s something that he’s going to have to deal with and work hard on.
“He’s obviously a talented player so we’ll have to wait and see.”
In other Aston Villa news, Christian Purslow is keeping his promise to the squad after a player arrived at Bodymoor Heath ahead of a potential transfer.