AS a talented teenager, Louie Barry made the football world take notice of his incredible talent.
In 2018, he scored ten goals in five games for England U15s at a tournament in Italy.
Before that he won the golden boot at the Val-de-Marne tournament, which England U16 won.
After turning down a contract with parent club West Brom, Barry embarked on a Spanish adventure, heading to Barcelona to train at their famous La Masia academy.
At just 16 years old, he was the first English player to join La Masia.
However, a row over his registration with FIFA meant that settling in Catalonia proved more difficult than it should have been.
When Covid hit, Barry decided to leave to be with family.
It meant starting over, at boyhood club Aston Villa, although his opportunities were few and far between.
To his credit, Barry has found his shooting boots in League One, where he is on loan for Stockport County.
With 13 goals, he is the league's top scorer and is fulfilling the potential that led former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp to call him 'Little Jamie Vardy'.
'I enjoyed my time at Barcelona'
After starring in West Brom's youth side, helping them reach the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup and playing across three age groups, it was inevitable that he would move to a bigger club.
Liverpool and Manchester City were linked with the striker domestically, while he was invited to the academies of Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig.
PSG were the first in talks when it seemed clear he would not stay with the Baggies.
Then Barcelona stole a march on the French club even after a medical was cleared at the Ligue 1 giants.
But it wasn't all rosy in Catalonia.
Shortly after Barry signed a three-year contract with La Liga, West Brom filed a complaint with FIFA, claiming they had not received the compensation they were owed: £235,000.
Barcelona said yes, and eventually a judge ruled in their favor that no more compensation was due.
That held up Barry's international registration for three months, causing him to miss 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 take over the world, Barry decided to return to Britain because he wanted to see his family more often.
Immediately, boyhood club Aston Villa signed him for a fee that could rise to £3.5 million.
“I enjoyed 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 is 10 minutes away from my parents' house. I grew up there. I support Villa. I wouldn't have gone anywhere else and I'm so grateful that they came for me.”
Klopp's praise
Chances were few and far between on Villa's side.
But when the club was decimated by Covid, missing ten players ahead of an FA Cup third round tie against Liverpool in 2021, Barry was thrust into the action.
Incredibly, he would score the equalizer against the Reds, before they were defeated 4-1.
The performance saw German manager Jurgen Klopp praise the youngster and liken him to a Leicester City legend.
After the match he told talkSPORT: “The boys did really well. Little Jamie Vardy was a real threat.”
Admittedly, Barry has revealed in the past that he has studied Vardy's game and movements on and off the ball.
He revealed: “I work hard when I have possession of the ball, and 'cheating' isn't the right word because I do run back and do my defensive work, but if I feel like the ball is being passed to me or ricocheted and come my way, I'm coming for the ball and then I just want to move forward.
“Even if I lose the ball a few times, I want to be as direct as possible.”
He succeeds
With Villa realizing that the now 21-year-old needs more initial experience, they sent him several loans.
Although it didn't work out at Ipswich Town and MK Dons, it all fell into place at Edgeley Park.
Barry has rediscovered his goalscoring form under boss Dave Challinor – and has already scored thirteen goals in seventeen games.
He tops the goalscoring charts as Stockport County chase promotion to the Championship.
Naturally, the youngster has been linked with moves to Middlesbrough, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday as a result.
Now that Barry has found his feet, it's hard to imagine Villa letting this signing go now.
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