Louie Barry

Louie Mark Barry (born 21 June 2003) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker and winger for Aston Villa. Having spent a decade in the West Bromwich Albion Academy he moved to Barcelona in 2019 and subsequently joined Aston Villa in January 2020. Barry has represented England and the Republic of Ireland at youth international level.

Louie Barry
Personal information
Full name Louie Mark Barry[1]
Date of birth (2003-06-21) 21 June 2003[2]
Place of birth Sutton Coldfield, England
Position(s) Striker, winger
Club information
Current team
 Aston Villa
Number 61
Youth career
2009–2019 West Bromwich Albion
2019–2020 Barcelona
2020–2021 Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021– Aston Villa 0 (0)
National team‡
2017–2018 England U15 2 (1)
2018 Republic of Ireland U15 2 (0)
2018 Republic of Ireland U16 3 (3)
2018–2019 England U16 10 (7)
2019– England U17 7 (4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:03, 9 January 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12:04, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

Early and personal life

Barry was born in Sutton Coldfield,[3] and holds dual English-Irish nationality.[2] He attended Bishop Walsh Catholic School.[4] In February 2020 he said he had been an Aston Villa fan his entire life.[4]

Club career

Barcelona

After spending ten years with West Bromwich Albion, he signed a three-year contract with Spanish club Barcelona in July 2019.[2][5] He had previously been close to signing for French club Paris Saint-Germain.[6]

In September 2019 it was announced that West Bromwich Albion were going to report Barcelona to FIFA over the transfer, claiming that they had not received the compensation they were due.[7] Barcelona contested this, however, stating that they did not believe that his scholarship for West Brom had any international standing, and that they would wait for the verdict from FIFA.[8] He subsequently had to wait three months for his international registration to be confirmed which meant he missed the first seven matches of the Barcelona under-19 season.[9] Barry made his competitive debut for Barcelona's under-19 side in October 2019, scoring on his first start, in a 6-0 victory against Ebro.[10]

Aston Villa

In January 2020 he held talks with Aston Villa,[11] signing for them later that month for a fee of £880,000,[12] which could rise to £3.5M with add-ons. Barry signed a three-year contract, as this is the maximum allowed for a player of his age - with an agreement of an automatic further three years at the end of that.[13] He made his debut for the club's U23 team on 23 January 2020, shortly before he was officially unveiled by the Midlands club. He came on to score the equaliser in a 2–1 win over Cardiff City.[14] In June 2020 he spent time training with the Aston Villa first team,[15] then made a first appearance in the EFL Trophy with the club's under-21 side four months later.[16][17]

On 8 January 2021, after ten of Villa's first-team players tested positive for COVID-19, Barry was selected to make his debut in the FA Cup third round against Liverpool.[18] Barry scored to equalise the game at 1–1, before Liverpool went on to win 4–1.[19] Barry's performance prompted the Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp, to refer to the youngster as "Little Jamie Vardy"[20] The goal was voted 'Goal of the Round' by Match of the Day viewers.[21]

International career

Barry has represented England at under-15, under-16 and under-17 youth levels.[3][2][6] He is also eligible to represent the Republic of Ireland via an Irish grandparent,[2] having represented them at under-15 and under-16 level in 2018 before returning his allegiance to England.[22] In February 2020 he had 21 goals in 20 games for England's youth teams.[4]

Career statistics
As of match played 8 January 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Aston Villa 2020–21[23] Premier League 001100—11
Aston Villa U21 2020–21[23] — ———1[lower-alpha 1]010
Career total 0011001021
  1. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

References
  1. "Premier League clubs publish 2019/20 retained lists". Premier League. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  2. "Louie Barry signs for Barça". www.fcbarcelona.com.
  3. "Who is Louie Barry? Barcelona's 16-year-old 'pearl' from West Brom | Goal.com". www.goal.com.
  4. Horner, Nick (3 February 2020). "Louie Barry breaks his Villa silence and issues West Brom message". birminghammail.
  5. "Barcelona: Louie Barry signs from West Brom". BBC Sport. 11 July 2019.
  6. "Barcelona sign England Under-16 striker Louie Barry from West Brom". The Guardian. 11 July 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  7. Masi, Joseph. "West Brom to report Barcelona to FIFA over Louie Barry move". www.expressandstar.com.
  8. "Barcelona explain why they have not yet paid WBA for Louie Barry". sport. 4 September 2019.
  9. "Louie Barry scores on Barcelona youth debut after becoming first Englishman in La Masia academy". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  10. "Louie Barry scores first goal on debut start for FC Barcelona U19A side". FC Barcelona. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  11. "Louie Barry: Barcelona youngster in talks with Aston Villa". BBC Sport. 7 January 2020.
  12. "Louie Barry: Aston Villa sign Barcelona youngster". 23 January 2020 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  13. Preece, Ashley (10 January 2021). "Barcelona to Bodymoor Heath - The extensive lowdown on Aston Villa's teenage sensation Louie Barry". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  14. Rushton, James (23 January 2020). "How Louie Barry is already impressing Aston Villa and Dean Smith". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  15. Dicken, Alex (12 June 2020). "Smith calls up 'best 16-year-old in the country' to Villa training". birminghammail.
  16. "Starting Lineups - Fleetwood vs Aston Villa U21". Sky Sports. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  17. EFL Trophy: Fleetwood Town 3-0 Aston Villa, Aston Villa FC, 6 October 2020
  18. "Villa confirm 10 players have tested positive for COVID as EFL announces 112 cases". talkSPORT. 8 January 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  19. Chowdhury, Saj (8 January 2021). "Aston Villa 1 Liverpool 4". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  20. Alex Dicken, BirminghamLive, 9 January 2021, Jurgen Klopp gives Louie Barry brilliant nickname after Liverpool beat Aston Villa's kids
  21. "Barry wins goal of FA Cup third round" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  22. "Ireland Under-16 cap Louie Barry completes move to Barcelona". independent.
  23. "Games played by Louie Barry in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
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