TEEN SPIRIT
How ex-Barcelona starlet Louie Barry, nicknamed ‘the little Jamie Vardy’, rebuilt his career to be League One top scorer
Barry is reportedly attracting interest from Championship clubs after firing in goals for Stockport
AS a talented teenager, Louie Barry had the football world watching his incredible talent.
In 2018, he scored 10 goals in five games for England U15s at a tournament in Italy.
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Before that, he won the golden boot at the Val-de-Marne tournament, which England U16s won.
After rejecting a contract with parent club West Brom, Barry embarked on a Spanish adventure - joining Barcelona to train at their famous La Masia academy.
Aged just 16, he was the first English player to join La Masia.
However, a squabble over his registration with Fifa meant settling in Catalonia proved harder than it should have been.
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Then, when Covid hit , Barry decided to leave to be with family.
It meant starting again, at boyhood club Aston Villa, although his chances were few and far between.
Barry, to his credit, has found his shooting boots in League One, where he plays for Stockport County on loan.
With 13 goals, he's the league's top scorer and fulfilling the potential that led to former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp calling him 'Little Jamie Vardy'.
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'I loved my time at Barcelona'
After starring in West Brom's youth side, helping them reach the FA Youth Cup semi-final and playing three age groups are, it was inevitable he would move to a bigger club.
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Liverpool and Manchester City were linked with the forward domestically, while he was invited to Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig's academies.
PSG were the first in talks, when it appeared evident he wasn't going to stay with the Baggies.
Then, Barcelona stole a march on the French club, even after a medical was passed with the Ligue 1 giants.
But, it wasn't all rosy in Catalonia.
Soon after Barry signed a three-year contract with the La Liga side, West Brom filed a complaint to Fifa claiming they hadn't received the compensation they were due - £235,000.
Barcelona said they had, and ultimately a judge ruled in their favour that no more compensation was due.
That held up Barry's international registration for three months, meaning he missed seven games of the U19 season.
He lived in La Masia, while his family remained in the Midlands.
In January, 2020 as Covid began to sweep the world, Barry decided to return to the UK because he wanted to see his family more.
Immediately, boyhood club Aston Villa snapped him up for a fee that could rise to £3.5million.
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"I loved my time in Barcelona, " he told The i.
"I don't have a bad word to say about it. But I decided to come back. Villa are 10 minutes away from my family home. I grew up there. I support Villa. I wouldn't have gone anywhere else and I am so thankful they came in for me."
Klopp's praise
Chances were few and far between in Villa's side.
But when the club was decimated by Covid, forcing 10 players to miss out ahead of a FA Cup third round tie against Liverpool in 2021, Barry was thrust into the action.
Incredibly, he would score the equaliser against the Reds, before they were beaten 4-1.
That performance saw German manager Jurgen Klopp praise the youngster - comparing him to a Leicester City legend.
After the game, he told talkSPORT: "The boys did really well. Little Jamie Vardy was a proper threat."
Admittedly, Barry has revealed in the past he has studied Vardy's game and movement on and off the ball.
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He revealed: "I do work hard out of possession, and 'cheat' isn't the right word because I do track back and do my defensive work, but when I feel that the ball might be passed to me, or take a ricochet and come my way, I'll come for the ball and then all I want to do is go forward.
"Even if I lose the ball a few times, I want to be as direct as possible."
It's working out for him
With Villa realising the now 21-year-old needs more first time experience, they sent him on various loans.
While it didn't work out at Ipswich Town and MK Dons, it's all falling into place at Edgeley Park.
Barry has rediscovered his goalscoring form under boss Dave Challinor - and has 13 goals in 17 matches already.
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He's top of the goalscoring charts, as Stockport County chase promotion to the Championship.
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Naturally, that has seen the youngster linked with moves to Middlesbrough, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday.
With Barry finding his feet, it would be hard to imagine Villa will let this asset go now.
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