Stockport County can confirm that forward Louie Barry is set to be recalled from his loan spell by parent club Aston Villa in January.
Louie’s final game of his second loan spell at the Club will be our New Year’s Day fixture at home to Birmingham City, before the 21-year-old returns to Villa Park for a period of assessment with Unai Emery’s first-team squad.
Birmingham-born Barry first joined County at the start of the 23/24 campaign, the fifth loan spell of his young career, and in his time under the management of Dave Challinor at Edgeley Park has developed into one of the most feared forwards in League One – scoring 24 goals in just 43 appearances for the Club.
His first season in SK3 saw him find the net nine times in 21 games, breaking a post-war club record by scoring in seven consecutive league outings, before an injury picked up in October kept him out for a large part of the campaign. He returned just in time to lift the League Two trophy at the end of the season, reaffirming his status as a fan favourite at Edgeley Park.
Since returning to SK3 in the Summer Louie has gone from strength to strength, departing as the leading goalscorer in League One this season with 14 goals – at least four more than any other player in the division.
He has twice won the League One Player of the Month award this season, as well as the EFL Young Player of the Month award in August, and his form in the first half of the season has helped us to a play-off place heading into the festive period.
We’d like to place on record our thanks to Aston Villa for trusting us with Louie’s development over the last 18 months, and to Louie for his outstanding contribution during his time at Edgeley Park. With three games still left to play before his departure, we are sure that supporters will join us in giving him the send off he deserves, and wish him the best of luck in his time back at Villa Park.