In cooperation with Goal light Football zone twice a week young players who can go far in the future or who are already earning their spurs in (inter)national top football. This time the focus is on just eighteen-year-old Louie Barry, who made the world press two years ago with his transfer to Barcelona, did not make it there and is now making his way at Aston Villa. An account of an already amazing career.
The corona crisis causes many disappointments in the (football) world, but sometimes it also offers opportunities. In January, almost the entire selection of Aston Villa was quarantined, allowing the top youth team to play against Liverpool in the FA Cup. The very young Dutchman Lamare Bogarde made his debut and Sil Swinkels came in after the break. For them it was a moment to remember, but most of the attention was rightly focused on the then 17-year-old Louie Barry. He had one chance to score and decisively put the 1-1 on the board in the game that eventually lost 4-1.
It was his first of undoubtedly many top-level goals, predicts Mark Delaney, who once took the lead as coach of the top youth team in the game against Liverpool. “We knew that if Louie had a chance, he might score. He does that every day in training, but it’s great to do it on this podium against such a strong team. He remained very calm,” praised Delaney, who received support from Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp.
Louie Barry celebrates his first professional goal against Liverpool in the FA Cup.
“Little Jamie Vardy gave us a lot of headaches,” said the German in conversation with talkSport after the game at Villa Park. Klopp thus responded to a much-heard comparison in Germany. Barry has a very low center of gravity, is fast, always looking for the shortest way to the goal and can finish with both feet. This makes the comparison with the successful striker of Leicester City quickly made, although Vardy worked his way up to the Premier League via the amateur classes, while Barry started playing in the youth academy at the age of 16 at Barcelona.
Although Barry and his father Mard are die-hard Villa supporters, the striker started as a six-year-old with great rival West Bromwich Albion. There he had the opportunity to join a professional club straight away, so the choice was quickly made for the boy who saw Wayne Rooney and Vardy as his role models. His great talent soon became apparent, because at his school in Sutton Coldfield the rule was introduced that little Louie could only participate in a small part of the games, otherwise he would score too many.
West Brom did everything in the years that followed to get him to sign his first professional contract, but there was the Bagpies no stopping when the biggest clubs in the world knocked on Barry’s door. He could go to Paris Saint-Germain, but his family turned down a financially very lucrative proposal because Barcelona was preferred. At the time, he had already undergone a medical examination in Paris, but José Mari Bakero and Guillermo Amor convinced the family to come to Catalonia at the last minute.
Louie Barry in the shirt of Barcelona, coming out in the Otten Cup against PSV.
West Brom only received a training allowance of 260,000 euros and had to watch their greatest talent become the first Englishman at La Masia. However, it was by no means a success story in Barcelona. Barely six months after his arrival, he had already left. Not because the club wanted to get rid of him, but because he felt he deserved more minutes in the Under-19 of the Spaniards. Coach Franc Artiga, however, always chose Gerard ‘Peque’ Fernandez in important games.
The latter fit better into the game system. Barry made according to Goal-journalist Rik Sharma every game good runs in depth, but this was often misunderstood by his teammates. They are used to combining short passes towards the opponent’s goal, which meant that Barry was not brought into position nearly as often as he wanted. Nevertheless, he scored regularly. Barcelona did not necessarily want to lose him, but Barry’s entourage decided that a departure was best.
They reportedly got the feeling that Barcelona had only attracted him so that the competition could not bring him in as a heralded top talent. An early return to England was the logical next step. Liverpool and Manchester United made an attempt to sign him in January 2020, but Barry fell for Aston Villa’s charm offensive, which transferred around £1million to Barcelona. He made that choice out of club love on the one hand, but the prospect of a quick breakthrough was also more favorable than with the absolute top clubs in the Premier League.
Yet Barry also did not expect that he could make his debut in the main squad almost to the day one year later, against Liverpool. He was so taken aback that he without a second thought swapped his shirt with Liverpool midfielder Fabinho. “It wasn’t until later that I realized it was my debut shirt,” he chuckled at BT Sport. “I have to thank Fabinho, because he gave me my shirt back. So now I have two shirts left from this game”, he beamed, proud of his beautiful goal and because of the sporty gesture of the Brazilian.
this is amazing ?? Louie Barry swapped shirts with Fabinho, but after a word with a member of Villa staff, chased him down the tunnel to ask for it back! Now he’s got Fabinho’s shirt, and his debut shirt ??#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/6P36O5ciiW
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 8, 2021
In addition to his debut goal in the main squad, Barry also scored 19 times for Aston Villa’s top youth team, including 13 in 17 games in the Premier League under 23. In addition, he also accounted for five goals and four assists in six FA Youth Cup matches. That award was won for the first time in 19 years thanks in part to his performances, so it was no surprise that the club recently announced that his contract has been broken open and extended.
Aston Villa coach Dean Smith has already indicated that Barry will get a chance in the main squad this season, although he does not play much in the preparation for the time being due to the presence of Ollie Watkins, Wesley and Keinan Davis. Nevertheless, no one doubts that the goal-getter will become a very successful striker. He could score goals like no other as a six-year-old and his short stay at Barcelona has also made him much stronger positionally and dribbling. Yet his greatest quality is and remains to sneak away from the backs of defenders and then strike mercilessly. Premier League defenses have been warned.