Cardiff City should have one eye on Sheffield United situation - Aston Villa transfer could seal promotion | OneFootball

Cardiff City and a host of promotion-chasing League One clubs would be wise to monitor Sheffield United developments ahead of the January window

With the wind no longer in Cardiff City's sails courtesy of a recent slump in form after starting the 2025/26 League One campaign in blistering and domineering fashion under Brian Barry-Murphy, the upcoming January transfer window will doubtless be eyed as a crucial opportunity to enforce the required tweaks in order to book the Bluebirds' ticket back to the Championship come May.

We're still just under two months shy of the turn of the year, of course, although clubs will be scheming already and Cardiff, now with strategic, forward-thinking philosophy at long last through Barry-Murphy, can be expected to be no different in this regard.

Enforcements are sure to be needed, too. Cardiff have lost four of their last seven league matches, with an exciting march towards the EFL Cup quarter-finals perhaps taking some of the light away from patchy divisional form over recent times.

The Bluebirds may still remain in fourth position, just two points shy of league leaders Stockport County with a game in hand over the Hatters for good measure, but it's already representing somewhat of a stark contrast to the electrifying start to the season that was enjoyed in the Welsh capital, in which Barry-Murphy's side topped the standings in the opening weeks and went seven matches unbeaten, all the while not conceding a single goal from open play.

Defensive frailties have been exposed more recently, though, and while Barry-Murphy may just have his eye on reinforcing the backline, additions are needed in the final third to spur Cardiff onto promotion.

As aforementioned, clubs will already be strategising to prepare in earnest for the winter window, which is clearly the case at Sheffield United — and that situation may just be of interest to the Bluebirds.

If it's not, then it most certainly should be.

Sheffield United eyeing Louie Barry, Aston Villa loan termination in January

The Blades, who twice triumphed over Cardiff last season in the Championship, have struggled greatly in 2025/26 after succumbing to an agonising, last-grasp defeat to now-high-flying Sunderland in May's second-tier play-off final at Wembley. Chris Wilder was sacked and replaced by Ruben Selles before being reappointed to succeed the Spaniard after a dismal start left the South Yorkshire club rooted to the foot of the division.

Fortunes have not improved all that much under Wilder, and United remain positioned inside the relegation zone after 15 matches, although there are some signs of life at Bramall Lane. Nonetheless, Wilder is planning to take significant action in January as the Blades look to dodge a return to League One in eight years, and, as exclusively revealed last week by Football League World, Wilder is planning to terminate the loan deals of Louie Barry, Tyler Bindon and Ben Godfrey in the January window.

This reveal, of course, offered little in the way of surprise to United supporters, with the trio having endured a miserable old time of it in the Steel City. And the case of Barry is a rather interesting one indeed — the 22-year-old featured regularly under Selles but has started only one match following Wilder's return and has found himself left out of the last four matchday squads.

A return to parent club Aston Villa, then, represents a likely outcome at this moment in time, and it's a situation which will have no shortage of observers across the Championship and the higher echelons of League One, too.

Cardiff City should push for Aston Villa's Louie Barry in January if Sheffield United exit is sealed

Barry has struggled for both form and opportunity with the Blades, though that should be neither a deterrent of an accurate representation of his ability and just what the former Barcelona wonderkid can offer at full throttle.

Having forged a prodigious reputation at age-group level with West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa and briefly Barcelona, the Birmingham-born attacker had to bide his time amid a litany of mixed loan moves away from the West Midlands before earning his stripes with Stockport. His return of nine goals and four assists from just 20 appearances in a campaign which was curtailed by injury helped Stockport gain promotion from League Two in 2023/24, and he returned to Edgeley Park for the Hatters' crusade into the third-tier last term.

Barry went one better by lighting up League One with 15 goals in his first 23 matches before being recalled by Villa, who sought for Championship experience by sending him to Hull City, where he would seldom feature under then-Tigers boss Selles due to injury. It has been argued that Barry simply isn't good enough for the Championship, in which he is admittedly yet to prove his worth, although just how much opportunity he has been afforded to do so is another matter entirely.

Nonetheless, his proven skillset in League One makes him an extremely attractive proposition for Cardiff to consider, with the promotion-chasing outfit in pronounced need of increased dynamism, pace and goal threat from wide areas.

Omari Kellyman and Chris Willock — the latter of whom is currently sidelined — are arguably Cardiff's strongest and most capable wingers, and for good reason too, but they are both more inverted wide operators who are excellent at coming inside and creating opportunities.

Balance and variation is needed, though, and Cardiff lack a winger who can stretch defences, terrorise his opposite number at breakneck speed, run in behind and provide a consistent goalscoring threat. Barry, who can operate either off the left or through the middle, brings exactly that — at League One level, at least — and has the ability to provide moments of sheer X-Factor with his ball-striking and knack of scoring from different ranges and angles.

Away from Kellyman and Willock, Cardiff do have Cian Ashford, Isaak Davies and, once he returns from an injury lay-off which first started in August, Ollie Tanner to call upon. Ashford and Davies, however, have both struggled for consistency this term, and the latter is perhaps more at home as a striker too, even if the presence of Yousef Salech and Callum Robinson has restricted his opportunities to lead the line.

Tanner brings the profile of a quick, direct and aggressive winger, but his final ball pales in comparison to Barry's — and the ex-England youth international would represent the pedigree of signing which would send out a statement to the rest of League One and could just end up earning promotion come May.

Barry would feel like the final piece of the puzzle for Cardiff, who have a side capable of competing for promotion for the season's duration but need a wide forward of his profile to unlock a fresh dimension to an attack which has just lost its spark and dynamic in recent weeks.

They would, of course, face a flurry of competition to seal his signature, which one would imagine may have interest from a number of Championship clubs alongside several promotion rivals in League One — Stockport might just fancy their chances of bringing him back for a third stint under Dave Challinor — though Cardiff displayed ambition and pulling power in the summer window by completing deals for Chelsea loanee Kellyman, Gabriel Osho and Nathan Trott and have an exciting and progressive project in place with Barry-Murphy at the helm.

Villa's stance if and when Barry's nightmare deal at Bramall Lane comes to an end remains unclear, and it would be hard to rule out the possibility of Unai Emery's outfit looking to cut their losses by sanctioning a permanent exit from Villa Park, but if what may now be a final loan move is on the cards, then Cardiff need to be pushing their way to the front of the inevitable queue for the speedy winger's services.