Louie Barry may fear Championship curse after Hull City, Sheffield United misfortune - it could affect Aston Villa future | OneFootball

Aston Villa loanee Louie Barry has had two difficult starts to life in the Championship

Louie Barry may be fearing a Championship curse after he’s been forced to endure two rough starts to second-tier life with Hull City and Sheffield United.

Barry caught headlines as a youngster after taking the unusual step for a rising English star of linking up with Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy setup, signing from West Bromwich Albion

He then set tongues wagging having returned to England with Aston Villa, when he netted against Liverpool’s first team in the FA Cup after the Villans had been ravaged by a Covid-19 outbreak.

Following a few quiet loan spells throughout the EFL, he truly ignited his career in two stints with Stockport County, earning himself a plethora of Championship interest – but both attempts, with Hull and the Blades, have got off to a rocky start, for reasons well beyond his control.

Louie Barry’s Hull City adventure was over before it started

Having helped Stockport to promotion to League One, he returned the following season to kickstart the Hatters in the third tier, netting 15 league goals and providing three assists before New Year.

It was clear that he was ready to take the next step, so he was recalled by Villa and a race ensued for his signature for the second half of the 2024/25 season.

Hull, to the surprise of some given they were in a relegation battle, won that race, and he linked up with the squad in January.

Barry managed just four appearances for the Tigers, before hobbling off the field away at Sunderland, which was later confirmed to have been caused by damaged cartilage in his knee.

After just 165 minutes of Championship football, he was already on his way back to the Midlands to rehabilitate his injury.

Sheffield United has proven equally tough as Hull City for Louie Barry

Still with credit in the bank, and having not been thoroughly tested at the MKM Stadium, there was still plenty of interest in Barry over the summer from the second tier.

Hull were there again, almost sealing a £3.5m permanent move, before that deal collapsed and he instead followed former Hull boss Ruben Selles to Bramall Lane, on a loan deal.

As the best team not to be promoted on paper last term, given they finished third and went on to lose the play-off final, it seemed like a fairly safe bet for Barry. Nobody could have predicted the Blades’ start to the season.

Amid question marks over their AI-powered transfer strategy, which at present appears to favour expensive and untested teenagers from the Bulgarian top flight, the Blades lost all of their opening four league games, putting them dead-last in the table, below even their crisis-stricken arch rivals, Sheffield Wednesday.

Barry has failed to register a goal involvement in that time, but that says little about the winger’s ability, given the club as a whole has only managed a single goal.

These are clearly not ideal circumstances to thrive, and are well beyond the control of Barry, but he must now be fearing a Championship curse, given how unforeseen such a struggling start was for the Blades.

Louie Barry is more than capable of Championship football

In both instances, circumstances out of Barry’s hands have conspired to give him a difficult start to life in the Championship.

But as anyone who saw him for County will attest, he is more than capable of making that step up.

A club of the Blades’ stature would, you’d hope, find a way to turn a corner this season and get back on track, whether that’s with Selles at the helm or not, and Barry will eventually get his shot at performing in a fully functioning side, at full fitness himself.

So far, he has not had the tools necessary to show his parent club, Villa, that he is ready to make the jump up to their first team, and a quiet season could hit his overall value, meaning one lucky club might bag a shrewd bargain further down the line, because his quality is certainly there.