Stockport County: Sheffield Wednesday can provide Louie Barry replacement if Aston Villa deal fails - View | OneFootball

Stockport County have been credited with an interest in Sheffield Wednesday forward Mallik Wilks, who may work as an ideal Louie Barry replacement if a deal for the Aston Villa starlet cannot be reached.

Barry spent the 2023/24 season on loan with the Hatters and, despite a season hampered by injury, made a strong impression at Edgeley Park; so much so that owner Mark Stott wants to put a big dent in the budget to bring him in permanently.

That move, by Stott's own admission, will be a tricky one to pull off and the recent links to Wilks, as reported by Football Insider, make sense as a ready-made replacement.

A move for Wilks will be no easy path itself though, with Reading and Charlton Athletic both believed to hold an interest.

The Hatters may have identified Barry alternative

A recent post by journalist Sam Byrne suggests that there is no word on the Barry negotiations concluding, meaning that particular saga is likely to rumble on into the summer as things stand. But reports suggest that in Wilks, County may have found a player that can offer a similar service to Barry.

It is fair to suggest that Wilks has not quite worked out for Wednesday, having appeared just 31 times in the league over the past two seasons and scoring one goal, during which time the club was promoted into the Championship.

However, the 25-year-old has proven more than capable in the third tier earlier in his career, netting 19 goals and eight assists in 44 League One appearances for Hull City in the 2020/21 season.

He also scored 14 and provided eight assists for Doncaster Rovers in their 2018/19 third-tier campaign, but has often seemed to struggle with the jump up to the Championship in the intervening years.

His highlight reel from that 2020/21 season shows that he is capable of carrying the ball and beating a man, similar to the directness that Barry offered in his loan spell, and can be deadly in and around the penalty area when allowed to fashion an angle on goal.

Added to that, Wilks has played consistently across the front three throughout his career, making him ideal for getting the width that Hatters manager Dave Challinor often requires from his forwards and for the rotations throughout the frontline that are another common feature of the County boss' side.

Quality dribbling was one of the features most lacking in the County squad this time last year, and was a key reason for bringing Barry to Edgeley Park in the first place.

The recent signing of Jayden Fevrier from Colchester United, who completed more dribbles than any other player in League One and League Two last season, is one step to combatting this. If not Barry, then Wilks may be on hand to provide further depth in this area.

Wilks would provide a useful balance at Edgeley Park

That Wilks has playing attributes that are desirable and would address an issue in Challinor's side is clear, but he may have more to offer the club.

As they enter their first League One season in 14 years, County have a distinct lack of League One experience in their current first-team squad.

With Stott confirming that the club are now focusing predominately on younger, high-potential players, additions based on experience may be few and far between, but Wilks may offer a good mix of both.

Aged 25, he still has plenty of playing years ahead of him and could create value for the club if he kicked on at Edgeley Park, but he has also plied his trade in League One more than any other division in his career.

County have recently signed Fevrier and Jay Mingi from Colchester and both are promising young talents, but they boast just 20 third-tier appearances between them, all from Mingi.

Wilks is youthful enough to not completely break the Hatters' transfer strategy and would also add a welcome element of experience to a squad that is relatively new to the level as a collective.

Stott made clear that a permanent move for Barry would be seen as an investment just as much as a signing for the upcoming League One season, but that doesn't negate the fact that the transfer would put a considerable dent in the budget.

If the Hatters are priced out of the Barry deal, Wilks is likely to be a much cheaper alternative, although a precise relative value is difficult to ascertain as the Owls didn't reveal the length of the forward's contract when he signed.

Despite that, the fact that Barry is still only 20 years old, and nobody quite knows where his ceiling might be just yet, puts him in stark contrast, value-wise, with Wilks, whose recent lack of first-team appearances at his age suggests he is on the fringes of Wednesday's squad, and they may be more open to cashing in.

The potential battle with relative heavyweights in Charlton and Reading will not help to reduce the cost, but it would still surely be a cut-price compared to Barry.

County's owner has expressed a strong desire to bring Barry to Edgeley Park, but it will be a difficult deal to close and, in Wilks, the Hatters may well have found an exciting alternative that ticks many of the same boxes.