Exclusive: Lee Hendrie reveals why he thinks Aston Villa are selling Louie Barry amid Hull City twist | OneFootball

Speaking exclusively with FLW, Lee Hendrie has been discussing Hull City's potential signing of Louie Barry.

Hull City were reportedly closing in on the permanent signing of Aston Villa forward Louie Barry, but now the deal is on the verge of collapse.

Villa are understood to be open to cashing in on the 22-year-old this summer to help with their PSR situation, and HullLive have reported that the Tigers are close to sealing his signature on a permanent basis.

Hull owner Acun Ilicali has a strong relationship with Aston Villa co-owner Nassef Sawiris, and the two have been locked in discussions over the weekend in an attempt to close a deal that would make the MKM Stadium Barry's new permanent home, having spent the second half of last season on loan with the club.

However, in a new twist on Tuesday morning, The Athletic are claiming that the deal is on the brink of collapsing, with Hull now struggling to meet the financial demands that the proposed £3.5m deal would entail.

Lee Hendrie makes Louie Barry, Hull City transfer claim - Aston Villa admission made

Speaking exclusively with Football League World, we asked Sky Sports pundit and former Aston Villa player, Lee Hendrie, about Barry's proposed move to Hull, and whether he thinks Villa would be making the right decision to let him leave on a permanent basis.

Hendrie said: "Yeah Louie Barry, it looks like he's going to Hull.

"I know he's been linked with Birmingham and a number of clubs in the Championship. He did brilliantly at Stockport; he scored a lot of goals, and that's where Villa offered him that new deal.

"I think the reason behind it is, if they can get money for him, it will work on their financial fair play. It does look like he is going to go to Hull now, and I know he had that spell where he got injured and didn't probably fulfill what he could be.

"But, it looks like Hull are trying to do some good business this season, and I think he's got bags of potential Louie Barry, I really do.

"In fact, I would have loved to have seen him have an opportunity at Villa at some stage, but it just hasn't seemed to be.

"So hopefully he goes there and really rips the Championship up."

Hull City must tread extremely carefully if they are to proceed with Louie Barry deal

It's now evident that Hull would be seriously at risk of jeopardising their financial security should they proceed with the current terms of the proposed Barry deal.

Indeed, it was only at the end of May that a report from HullLive reported that Ilicali was looking to scale back the club's spending in the transfer market this summer, after debts had risen to £66m in the latest accounts published.

"We have zero problem, and the finances of the club are very good," he said. "We are not the richest club, maybe I'm not the richest owner, but I'm one of the craziest owners, as I always say. I have the full passion to make this dream team better.

"We have limits. We almost passed our limits. Last year, we were over the limits. We pushed too much. Now we have to go down because it's calculated over three years (referencing Championship PSR rules regarding not allowing losses of over £41.5m over three-year period)."

The fact is that despite how much clear potential Barry has, the former Barcelona youngster remains unproven at Championship level, having been sidelined for the vast majority of his loan spell with Hull last season due to injury.

Those four Championship appearances he made for the Tigers last term remain his only outings at that level ahead of the 25/26 campaign, and his injury nightmare with Hull wasn't the first time he's been sidelined for numerous months due to injury either.

Indeed, the versatile forward missed 161 days and 30 games for Stockport County during the 2023/24 season, after tearing his hamstring.

Therefore, as much as he would be an exciting signing and investment by Hull this summer, the financial health of the club is surely more important than any new addition.

As such, unless they can rework the terms of the deal, or strike a new agreement with Villa entirely, then they would surely be wise to walk away from this deal.