The Athletic’s Aston Villa correspondent, Gregg Evans, has rubbished the idea of Louie Barry being promoted to the club’s first-team in the coming weeks, per the 1874 podcast (March 5th, 29:40).
What’s the word?
Villa signed Barry from Barcelona in the January transfer window.
The 16-year-old made three appearances for the Catalan giants’ U19 team, having joined them from West Bromwich Albion, and has also been capped three times by the England U17 side.
Villa paid £888,000 to bring him into Villa Park but Evans has batted away any suggestion that he could be thrust straight into Dean Smith’s first-team.
He said: “Yeah I just think too soon. Look, he’s a good player but I speak to people who know more about football than I do and they tell me he’s a very young player.
“To throw him straight into Premier League football, it’s madness. He needs a bit of time.
“He’s a very good player who believes in himself, and he’s making an impact in the U23s.
“But to get the promotion into the first team you need to be absolutely excelling at U23 level. For Louie Barry, he has to be a bit patient and so do Villa fans.”
>Red Herring or Real Hero: Only hardcore Villa fans will get all of them right….
Bed him in
It would be crazy to throw a 16-year-old straight into the deep end of a relegation dogfight – despite some Villa fans recently backing the idea of Barry being involved in the first team.
Villa are still attempting to stay in the Premier League – they are 19th, two points off safety – and they cannot be pinning their hopes on such a young player.
While the deal was something of a coup – it is rare that a club like Villa can convince a Barcelona youth player to make the switch to the Midlands – it is an investment for the future.
Barry has at least another 20 years of top-level football in him and patience is the buzzword.
While he is a talented centre-forward who has already scored twice for the U18s, he will have to bide his time.
