Stockport County: Tottenham and Leicester City leading Aston Villa race | OneFootball

Louie Barry has been on fire since the start of this season.

Premier League teams are reportedly starting to look at Aston Villa and Stockport County prospect Louie Barry, with Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur being two of the main contenders to sign the youngster.

The report comes from Spanish outlet Fichajes, who claim the on-loan Villa prospect could be tempted by a top-flight move.

This weekend proved, once again, that it is ridiculous that Barry has spent the last two seasons in League Two and League One.

County took on fellow newly promoted side Wrexham. Despite their new status in the English third tier, both are threatening to make the play-offs at least this season, making the contest a potentially very important one, even at this stage of the term.

Stockport came away from the Edgeley Park encounter with a 1-0 victory, courtesy of the right boot of Barry. Not for the first time this season, he finished in ludicrous fashion, finding the far corner of the goal from the left edge of the penalty box, threading his attempt through the many bodies that stood before him.

The 21-year-old forward has been sent on loan to Stockport by Villa for the last two campaigns, and he is arguably doing better now, in a higher division, than he was last time out. That goal against Wrexham took his tally for the campaign, in the league, to 11 goals, plus one assist on top of that.

Louie Barry attracting Premier League attention

Barry's exploits aren't going unnoticed. The former Barcelona academy member may already be contracted to a Premier League side but there are other top flight teams who are reportedly considering a move for him.

According to Fichajes, Leicester and Tottenham are the leading candidates in England's first division to sign Barry, if he is sold by Villa. That would, of course, mean him leaving Stockport too.

Spurs have shown a great willingness to invest in younger players already this season. They spent £40 million and £8.5 million, respectively, on 18-year-old talents in the summer; Leeds United midfielder Archie Gray and Swedish creative Lucas Bergvall.

Ange Postecoglou's side see Barry as both a short and long-term option for their forward line, as per Fichajes. Just like their successful attempt to sign Gray in the summer, capturing this current EFL talent won't come without some competition.

Leicester may also look to Barry as an option to help them out right now, as well as down the road, given their current struggles.

The Spanish outlet added that the chance to play in the Premier League could be an enticing factor for Barry.

Losing Louie Barry would be a bigger blow for Stockport than for Aston Villa

Just how well Dave Challinor's side have adapted to League One football has been impressive. Even with the resources behind them, they weren't so dominant in the fourth tier that it felt like they were going to be one of the leading contenders once they'd been promoted, but here we are.

They have taken advantage of what feels like a generally weakened/underperforming League One, and they now have the chance to try and achieve back-to-back promotions.

It's a hard achievement for any team to pull off, but it will be even tougher without Barry there to help. He's been unquestionably their best player this season, and it's not like they'd get any cash compensation for losing him that they'd be able to use to replace him either.

For Villa, selling to a Premier League rival might not be the smartest thing in the world to do, given his potential. However, they have plenty of top young forwards and wingers in their ranks already. It feels like Barry is unlikely to get a shot in their first team in the near future, so why wouldn't they consider moving him on for a healthy profit.

If that is what happens in January - although there is no guarantee that anyone will make a move for him in the winter - it'll be a much more painful blow for the Hatters to absorb than for Barry's Premier League parent club.