Scary Birmingham City, Louie Barry prospect could have been devastating | OneFootball

Birmingham City looked to sign Louie Barry in the summer, which could've been a scary prospect for the rest of League One.

Stockport County forward Louie Barry leads the way in the League One scoring charts, with nine goals in 14 appearances for the Hatters.

The youngster hit the ground running on loan at Edgeley Park last season, after returning to the Midlands with Aston Villa, following a dream move to FC Barcelona. He has had quite an interesting career so far but seems to have taken to the English lower leagues like a duck to water.

His impressive form last season, which helped Stockport win promotion to League One, had him on the radar of plenty of clubs. Scarily, League One powerhouse Birmingham City were among those to reportedly make a move to sign the 21-year-old, which eventually didn't materialize. Barry returned to Stockport on loan, but his form for the Hatters has left third-division fans fairly relieved that he didn't join the Birmingham superteam.

Barry caught the eye at Edgeley Park

After a fairly unsuccessful loan spell with Salford City in 2022-23, the youngster had to get his next move right if he wanted to work towards reaching his full potential. Fortunately, an opportunity for play-off finalists Stockport came around in the summer, which Barry decided to take.

The Hatters were expected to challenge for the title, but they had their work cut out for them, with the likes of Notts County, MK Dons, and Wrexham all gunning for the same success. Barry made an excellent start to the season, as the Greater Manchester club was right in the mix for the title.

Sadly, the Aston Villa loanee's season would come to a halt in late October, as a hamstring injury ruled him out for four months. Despite this setback, Barry returned as sharp as ever and went on to help Stockport get their hands on the League Two trophy. He finished the season with 13 goal contributions in 20 appearances, nine being goals and the other four being assists.

Whilst his season was disturbed by injury, Barry had more than proven his worth at Edgeley Park. Despite this, due to Villa's success in the Premier League, it was unlikely the 21-year-old would get a sniff of first-team action.

The Villains were happy to allow Barry to leave on loan again, as clubs monitored the situation.

It's no secret that Aston Villa and Birmingham aren't the best of friends, so there may have been some shock when Football Insider reported that Blues had registered their interest in signing Barry. The West Midlands club were looking to build an incredibly strong team to ensure they spend no longer than a single season in League One.

Reaction to this news was mixed, as FLW's Blues fan pundit, Mike Gibbs, advised the club to steer clear of the exciting prospect. "I just don't see the fit really. A) him coming from Villa, I don't necessarily think he improves what we've got. It's a loan as well, so I'm just not really sure I see the point of it," the Birmingham fan stated.

The recently relegated side had already added plenty of attacking options, with the likes of Alfie May and Emil Hansson, as well as offering Lukas Jutkiewicz a new deal. This meant that playing time would be limited for the 21-year-old, which wouldn't be ideal for either Barry or his parent club.

The youngster ended up returning to Stockport for the 2024-25 season, much to the delight of Hatters fans, who'd seen how good the former Barça man was last season.

His return has been a success as his place atop the scoring charts, with nine goals in 14 matches - equal his total from last season and more than any Blues forward, clearly shows.

County have been the beneficiaries but they're not the only ones as had Barry gone to Birmingham, it could've been a scary prospect for the rest of the division.

As mentioned, the Aston Villa starlet sits at the top of the League One scoring charts, as of the time of writing. His goals have helped Stockport to a solid start to the season, as the Hatters are in and around the play-off race. But, with Birmingham flying as everyone expected, third-tier enthusiasts will be breathing a sigh of relief that Blues were unable to land the attacker.

Chris Davies' men have only fallen to a single league defeat this season, which has them sitting in the automatic promotion places. It looks like it will require a Herculean effort to keep up with the former Premier League side, but Wycombe Wanderers and Wrexham are giving it a good go. However, if Barry's goals were added to this already incredibly strong Birmingham team, things could be very different indeed.

In hindsight, a deal for Barry being struck would've added a whole new cutting edge to the Birmingham attack, the Villa forward's limited playing time at Edgeley Park last season could've been an off-putting factor. Whilst his return was solid when considering the number of matches he played, this simply wasn't enough to justify him as a potential first-teamer for a promotion-chasing League One side. However, if you look at Barry now, you'd certainly rank him up there as one of the best in the division, thanks to his electric start.

With the likes of the prolific May, and £20 million man Jay Stansfield already at the club, Barry would add yet another big threat to what is already a front line that is far too good for League One. Whilst his form for County may have been better than expected this season, all the clubs in the third tier will be thanking their lucky stars that Davies didn't end up getting the 21-year-old.