Stoke City sent clear Louie Barry transfer message ahead of January | OneFootball

Louie Barry has been linked with a loan switch to Stoke City this January, having struggled during his spell with Sheffield United

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Stoke City have seen themselves linked with Sheffield United forward Louie Barry ahead of the January transfer window, with the 22-year-old on loan with the Blades from parent club Aston Villa.

As reported by Nick Mashiter in late November, Stoke were leading the race to sign Barry on loan ahead of the January window.

Having spent much of his youth career in the academy of West Brom, Barry moved to Barcelona's La Masia system in 2019, but would only stay in Catalonia for a year before returning to the UK with Aston Villa.

The forward has since spent much of his time out on loan in the EFL with each of Ipswich Town, Swindon Town, MK Dons, Salford City, two separate spells with Stockport County, followed by Hull City and now Sheffield United.

Since his move to the Blades in the summer, convinced by former head coach Ruben Selles, who brought him to Hull in January 2025, he has struggled to feature and made little to no impact at Bramall Lane, and could be recalled this January.

Barry has made just nine Championship appearances this season and hasn't been involved in a matchday squad for the last eight games, looking almost certain that an early recall is on the cards, with Stoke seemingly in prime position to provide him a Championship lifeline this January.

Football League World's Stoke fan pundit, Pete, has shared their views on Barry being linked with the Potters and whether it would be a good move for both parties.

Pete said: "In terms of Louie Barry from Aston Villa, I don't really know what to think about that. He didn't do much at Hull, didn't do much at Sheffield United.

"The only kind of thing on his CV that's really good is his spell at Stockport in League One.

"We've got Bae Jun-Ho, Lewis Baker, I mean, Jamie Donley's found it really tough to get any game time at all, and I suspect that sending Donley back and getting Louie Barry in to replace Donley would just mean that Louie Barry then sits on the bench and probably be as unhappy as Jamie Donley has been.

"So, I think there are other areas that we need to strengthen that would be a bigger priority.

"So yeah, I'd be pretty underwhelmed by the prospect of Louie Barry here.

"Who knows? Perhaps he'll come to us or another Championship club and do really well.

"But yeah, I'd not be massively keen on that one, to be honest."

Including the links to Barry, Stoke had also seen themselves linked to another Sheffield United attacker in Tom Cannon, who spent the first half of the 2024/25 season on loan with the Potters from Leicester City before his £10 million move last January.

It appears as though head coach Mark Robins is not totally satisfied with his frontline at the moment, and may well be looking for another option in the final third.

Sorba Thomas, Divin Mubama, Million Manhoef, and Bae Jun-Ho have been the club's preferred front four this season, with Thomas in particular shining from the left flank.

Lewis Baker, Lamine Cisse, Sam Gallagher, Robert Bozenik, and Jamie Donley are all also capable of operating in the upper echelons of the pitch, but Robins seemingly remains unsatisfied with his current crop of attacking players.

Despite a recent downturn in form, Stoke and Robins will still hold ambitions of a top-six finish this season, but will be looking around them nervously as teams around them keep picking up points while they remain in the buffers.

The addition of Barry may well help to kick on and fight for a play-off spot come the end of the season, having proven what he is capable of with Stockport in League One less than 12 months ago.