Aston Villa may have made a huge error involving Louie Barry and Stockport County | OneFootball

Aston Villa recalled Louie Barry from his loan spell with Stockport County last January and hasn't directly contributed to a goal since

Louie Barry enjoyed a prolific one-and-a-half years on loan with Stockport County, first in League Two and then League One, but his dazzling form at Edgeley Park saw parent club Aston Villa recall the forward and send him on loan to the Championship, where he has since struggled.

Barry is still only 22 years old, but it feels as though the forward has been around forever.

Having come through the youth system at West Brom, where Barry spent ten years, interest in him was high, with clubs such as PSG and Barcelona battling for his signature, which the latter would get in July 2019.

He'd spend just one-and-a-half years in Catalonia before returning to England with Aston Villa, where he has been sent on a series of loans across the EFL.

Ipswich Town, Swindon Town, MK Dons and Salford all signed Barry on loan between 2021 and 2023 with limited success, until Stockport decided to take a risk on him, which proved to pay dividends.

Louie Barry thrived on loan in the colours of Stockport County before he was recalled by Aston Villa

Barry signed on loan for the Hatters in July 2023 after signing fresh terms at Aston Villa, and under manager Dave Challinor, he had finally found himself a home.

He started each of Stockport's opening three matches but failed to register a goal or an assist, but that did not deter Challinor from keeping him in the starting eleven.

In the following seven games, Barry would grab nine goal contributions with seven goals and two assists through August and September, which resulted in him winning both the EFL Young Player of the Month and the EFL League Two Player of the Month.

He scored twice more for the Hatters between then and matchweek 15, where he suffered a hamstring injury which ruled him out for much of the rest of the season, playing just five more times in the fourth division.

With Stockport earning promotion to League One, Barry re-joined the club on loan once more, and it was like he never left.

He started 22 out of 23 games for the Hatters up until January, where he scored 15 times and grabbed three assists in the third tier, and won the League One Player of the Month for August before Villa decided to recall him and send him to the Championship to continue his development.

He was the leading scorer in League One at the time of his recall, and although Stockport's form wasn't drastically affected by it, Barry was, and has been since.

Rubén Sellés played a big role in Louie Barry signing for Sheffield United

Barry signed for Hull City under Ruben Selles upon his recall from Stockport, but after just four games and no goal contributions, the Englishman injured his knee against Sunderland, which saw his Tigers spell cut short.

The forward was made available for loan once again by Villa this summer, and Sellés, who was manager of Sheffield United at the time, reunited with Barry at Bramall Lane.

Upon signing for the Blades, Barry said: "I love his (Rubén Sellés) style of play, it is exactly what I stand for as a player. I just want to get to the goal as quick as possible.

"I have got a wonderful relationship with the gaffer and the staff, so I can't wait to get into training now."

However, Selles lasted just six games in charge of the Blades before he was relieved of his duties and replaced by Chris Wilder, who he incidentally replaced in the first place.

Barry has made seven appearances for the club so far, with five of those being starts, all of which came under Sellés, and since the Spaniard's departure, he has yet to start another game, with Wilder seemingly not favouring him.

His last goal came all the way back on December 29, 2024, and with just 32 minutes of league football in Sheffield United's last four games, the wait seems likely to continue, and Villa will likely regret their decision to recall him from Stockport in the first place.