Aston Villa confirm loan star recall

Villa have confirmed they will recall Louie Barry from his loan spell at Stockport County.

Published 5 hours ago

Birmingham City's Tomoki Iwata (left) and Stockport County's Louie Barry battle for the ball during the Sky Bet League One match at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, Birmingham. Picture date: Wednesday December 4, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story SOCCER Birmingham. Photo credit should read: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: EDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications.

The 21-year-old forward will return to his parent club at the start of January and be assessed by Unai Emery’s staff, with the most likely scenario he will be loaned out again to a club in the Championship.

Barry has scored 15 goals in 22 matches for Stockport this season and was named League One’s player of the month for November.

Villa are understood to be keen to see how he will fare at a higher level with Leeds among those clubs in the second tier reported to be interested in his services.

Barry began his career with Albion before moving to Villa via a brief spell at Barcelona.

He has made just one first-team appearance, though it was a memorable one as he scored against Liverpool in a 2021 FA Cup tie when Villa’s senior squad were hit by a Covid outbreak.

After struggling in early loan spells with Ipswich, Swindon and MK Done, he has flourished at Stockport, helping the club win promotion from League Two last season.