Villa’s promising young striker Louie Barry has today made a loan switch to Ipswich Town.
Barry, still just 18 years old, is highly regarded at youth level and now makes a move that will hopefully bring with it valuable senior football.
The youngster rose to early prominence at West Brom’s academy, before a high profile move to the Nou Camp saw his stock rise rapidly. Villa acted shrewdly in signing Barry from Barcelona when he was surprisingly made available by the Catalan club. Perhaps this was a sign of things to come in respect of his then hosts clubs deteriorating finances, that worked to Villa’s advantage.
Barry has since caught the eye with a string of impressive performances for Villa’s U-18/U-23 sides, culminating in a stand out goalscoring display against Liverpool in the FA Cup in January 2021. Villa were forced to play a youthful side due to a Covid breakout in the squad, and although losing 4-1 on the night, performed admirably against the then Premier League Champions.
The England Under-18 international joins Ipswich, currently in League 1, with their season curtain raiser coming in less than 24 hours at home to Morecambe.
It has been reported that Barry opted for a temporary move to Portman Road over that of Sunderland. The striker is one of ten new signings in Ipswich boss Paul Cook’s side.