Aston Villa beat Manchester United, Liverpool to Barcelona teen Louie Barry

Aston Villa are set to pay Barcelona €3m to land England youth international Louie Barry this month, ESPN FC report.

Barry only joined the Catalan giants this summer from West Brom but Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett claims that a lack of opportunities at the Spanish club mean he is likely to return to England this month.

It is said by the fresh report that Villa have beaten both Manchester United and Liverpool to land the teenager.

Born in Birmingham, Barry has dual English and Northern Irish nationality but previously represented Republic of Ireland’s youth teams before switching to England at Under-16 level.

His family are all said to be supporters of Villa while Mark Harrison, a prominent coach of Barry’s development at West Brom, is now at Villa Park.

It has been claimed that Barcelona are yet to pay the Baggies for the summer transfer with ESPN recently claiming that the Catalan giants are happy for the case to be settled by FIFA, with a development fee expected to be paid by the Spanish champions.

At the time of his summer move to the Camp Nou, the teenager has netted seven goals in nine appearances for England’s Under-16 side and is said to be one of his nation’s highest rated players.

However, it has been claimed that the Blaugrana have gone back on promises to play him regularly in his natural attacking position, leaving him wanting to return to English football.

As per FIFA regulations, the champions of La Liga should have had to pay a compensation fee of around €130k to the English club relating to development and coaching – but the Midlands club have not received it despite the deal being concluded in July.

That fee is outlined by the report to be broken down into €10k for each year between Under-12 and Under-15 level and €90k for his year with the Under-16s.

After ten years at West Brom, the forward had reportedly earned a number of spectacular offers this summer including from Paris Saint-Germain.

Barry is said to have gone as far as completing his medical in the French capital but eventually opted to join the Blaugrana.

According to Barca’s club media, Barry “plays primarily as a centre forward, although he can also play on the right wing, and he comes from West Bromwich Albion, his club since he was 6 years old.”

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