Preston North End should strike Aston Villa deal - it's a no-brainer after recent success | OneFootball

Preston North End are yet to bring in any new singings this winter, but shouldn't be afraid to dip into the loan market to reinforce their attack

It has been a quiet January window for Preston North End so far. The Lilywhites are yet to welcome any new faces to the club since the turn of the year, but they have already overseen three departures.

Impressive teenager Harrison Armstrong was recalled by parent club Everton from an initial 12-month loan, Will Keane has left on a six-month loan to Reading which will see out the rest of his PNE contract, and midfielder Stefan Thordarsson has moved permanently to Hannover 96 for an undisclosed sum.

In their first two games this year, North End were dominant in 3-0 and 2–0 wins over Sheffield Wednesday and Bristol City, respectively, but have faltered since in home defeats to Derby County and Hull City. They’re still in the play-off conversation, but if they want to keep their promotion hopes alive in 2026, they might need to seek reinforcements.

Preston North End’s loan market success so far this season is evident

In the summer window, Paul Heckingbottom brought a whopping 12 players to Preston, including four on a temporary basis from Premier League clubs.

As mentioned, midfielder Harrison Armstrong proved so effective in Lancashire that Toffees manager David Moyes had him recalled at the first available opportunity to address his team’s own injury woes. However, Armstrong was not the only temporary PNE player to make an impact this season.

Tottenham prospect Alfie Devine has gone from strength to strength at PNE, scoring five and assisting two from an advanced midfield role. Similarly, Bournemouth forward Daniel Jebbison has also notched five league goals since reuniting with his old Sheffield United manager at Deepdale.

The Lilywhites’ most successful loan this season has been Aston Villa winger Lewis Dobbin. The 23-year-old is the club’s top scorer in the league this season, with six, AND their top assist maker, with five, all in 22 matches – just one more than Jebbison, and five fewer than Devine.

In December, Heckingbottom publicly told the LEP that, in order to add to the current squad: “We need to move players to bring players in, or leave players out. And then I'm saying we have to have the funds and the money to do that, or we can't.”

With that in mind, now that some small room has been made on the squad list, Preston should not be afraid of reaching back out to Villa’s representatives to further bolster their attack.

Aston Villa’s Louie Barry up and down EFL career

Louie Barry has spent the last four and a half years on loan up and down the EFL pyramid from Villa Park. The 22-year-old has spent time at all of Ipswich Town (back when they were a League One side), Swindon Town, MK Dons, Salford City, Stockport County, and, most recently, Preston’s Championship rivals Hull City and Sheffield United.

It was in League Two and One with Stockport that Barry was able to really show his progress. He won the League Two Player of the Month award for September 2023, and repeated that feat with the League One Player of the Month in August 2024 following County’s promotion.

His continued exploits in front of goal earned him this award one more time in November, before he was recalled by Aston Villa in January 2025, after 18 months, 24 goals and seven assists at Edgeley Park.

He almost joined Hull for £3.5m this past summer after a relatively unremarkable loan in the latter half of last season, but BirminghamLive reported that this deal collapsed due to the EFL imposing a transfer restriction on the Tigers.

Following that, Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie told FLW that he expected one of Middlesbrough, West Bromwich Albion or Birmingham City to stake a claim. Instead, Barry joined the Blades and linked up with former Hull boss, Ruben Selles, where he struggled for consistency, starting just six times and failing to contribute a goal before his loan was terminated on January 3rd.

Preston and Louie Barry could help revitalise one another in 2026

Given how generally unimpressive Louie Barry’s career has been during the last 12 months, it might seem like a risk for play-off pushing Preston to bring him in over someone with a more proven track record in the Championship.

Barry has yet to make a single goal contribution in the second tier, but he was part of an entire team of players that was underwhelming by both Hull and Sheffield United's standards, whereas Preston have mostly been a well-oiled machine this season – something that the Sutton-born striker has proven he can succeed within.

At Stockport, when Barry was relied upon to lead the line, he was nigh unstoppable. Per FBref, he contributed to 0.89 goals per game in League Two in 2023/24, and that rose to 0.91 in League One in 2024/25.

These are stats that are hard to ignore, especially for a PNE side with Premier League aspirations that only have three recognised strikers on their books: Jebbison, who has his qualities, but has missed time twice already this season with injury; Michael Smith, who is the wrong side of 34; and Milutin Osmajic, who can be a reliable goal threat, but was banned for eight games earlier this season due to alleged racism, and was sent off in the Hull defeat to boot.

Barry has proven that he can thrive off the success of a whole team, and Preston’s season so far has been undeniably successful. Perhaps, after their two most recent goalless outings, taking a temporary chance on a new forward with unfinished business in the EFL is the way the Lilywhites have to go.