Leeds United are among the Championship teams chasing Aston Villa’s Louie Barry. And the door may now be open for the Whites to swoop in.
Louie Barry is a man in demand ahead of January, with Leeds United and Sheffield United both interested as they vie for promotion to the Championship.
Indeed, many Championship clubs are looking at the former Barcelona youngster who was recently recalled from his Stockport County loan spell after scoring 14 League One goals in the first half of the season.
Daniel Farke and Leeds United could surprise a few people in January and make some moves, despite Farke previously saying Leeds United would be quiet in January.
Landing Barry though won’t be easy. With half the Championship on alert, Villa have a lot of weighing up to do as they figure out Barry’s next destination.
But Leeds have been handed a timely boost in their hopes of signing Barry on loan from Aston Villa.
Middlesbrough stance on Louie Barry changes ahead of January
It was previously reported that Middlesbrough were the front-runners to sign Barry on loan from Villa.
Boro have a good reputation for taking in Premier League gems and making them better players, doing so with the likes of Cameron Archer in recent seasons, who also came from Aston Villa.
But an emerging report from The Northern Echo says that Middlesbrough are not actually in the hunt for Barry, who’s been described as a ‘magic’ player.
They write that Barry is ‘extremely unlikely’ to move to the Riverside in January as Middlesbrough ‘have no plans to pursue a move as things stand’, despite reports stating otherwise.
Leeds United handed Louie Barry twist, his Aston Villa situation is unclear
Most now expect the 21-year-old Barry to simply be loaned out again in January. But Carlton Palmer has suggested that it might not be as simple as that.
Palmer believes that Aston Villa could sell Barry permanent in January. He said: “Maybe he’ll get sold in the January transfer window. It’s unclear yet, and we’ll soon find out whether he’ll be loaned out, integrated into the first team or sold.”
Earlier in the season there was interest in a permanent deal for Barry and at the time, a £12.5million price tag was reported.
Though after Barry’s impressive form in League One, it might be that that valuation has gone up slightly, potentially putting a lot of clubs out of the race should Villa prefer a sale.
Or Unai Emery may even have his own plans for Barry. So right now, what the next month or so holds for the youngster remains to be seen.
