Louie Barry permanent transfer mooted after Aston Villa loan decision
Aston Villa could plan to sell Louie Barry once the 21-year-old returns from his loan spell with Stockport County, Carlton Palmer has said.
Speaking to Football League World (23 December), Palmer was unsure as to what the Villans’ plans are for Barry once he does return to Bodymoor Heath from the League One side, where he’s excelled.
With Barry having contributed to 18 goals in just 22 appearances for promotion-chasing Stockport, Palmer pondered whether Villa already have a permanent transfer lined up for him in January.
Palmer said: “He’s been outstanding. He’s scored 15 goals and provided 3 assists in 22 games for Stockport.
“He’s Aston Villa’s player, they want to develop him and maybe there’s a deal on the table to sign him in the January transfer window if they don’t see him as part of their future first-team.
“Maybe he’ll get sold in the January transfer window. It’s unclear yet, and we’ll soon find out.”
Louie Barry’s Aston Villa future still up in the air
While the likeliest outcome is that Barry heads back out on loan for the second half of the season at a higher level – probably the Championship’s upper reaches – the prospect of a sale is an intriguing one.
Villa themselves have experienced the tightening grip of PSR concerns in recent months, and even the most monied clubs in the Championship experience this tenfold – particularly mid-season.
Barry moving abroad wouldn’t be out of the ordinary, however, given the 21-year-old spent roughly a year of his youth career on the books at Barcelona, but even they’d struggle to sign him at the moment.
As a result, Villa’s plans for the academy starlets near future could still go down several different paths, but given the competition already present in Unai Emery’s frontline, him departing again looks likely.
Its anyone’s guess as to where Barry will be plying his trade come the next transfer deadline of 3 February, but whichever club gets him will certainly be lucky to do so.
In other Aston Villa news, Stan Collymore has urged one player at the club to bang on Unai Emery’s door with certain demands.
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