Sunderland AFC told to join Middlesbrough & Sheffield Wednesday in transfer battle for 14-goal forward | OneFootball

The Stockport County loanee is reportedly set to return to his parent club, with Championship sides taking an interest ahead of January.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Sunderland have found it incredibly difficult to win games in the Championship in recent weeks, and their lack of victories has seen them drop down to 4th in the table.

The Black Cats have not taken all three points in a match since they beat Oxford United 2-0 at the end of October, drawing five of their last six matches.

It's been an incredibly frustrating month for supporters, who had not expected to be involved in a promotion battle before a ball was kicked, but there is now a lot of apprehension and worry as to when their next win will come.

Regis Le Bris will be looking forward to the January transfer window to make improvements to his Sunderland squad after this awkward period, and Louie Barry could be the player to help turn their fortunes round.

Sunderland told to focus on other areas of the pitch before taking a look at Louie Barry

Barry is currently playing for League One side Stockport County and is excelling in his second season at the club after helping the Hatters to promotion from League Two in 2023/24.

The versatile attacker has found the back of the net 14 times in all competitions this season, and is looking a cut above the third tier of English football.

However, he is only in Greater Manchester temporarily, and his parent club Aston Villa are looking at recalling him to loan him out to a Championship side in January so he can prove himself in a higher division.

A couple of Championship clubs have already been reported to be in the mix ahead of the start of 2025, with Middlesbrough one of the interested parties, as per Birmingham World, whilst Sheffield Wednesday are also in the running for the ex-Barcelona youth prospect too, according to the Sheffield Star.

But, Football League World's Sunderland Fan Pundit, Jack Austwicke, is not entirely keen on a potential move for the 21-year-old when asked if he would like to see the Black Cats get involved in the race for him.

Jack told FLW: "Louie Barry is one of those prospects who has done well, and he has slowly made progress.

"I think people thought he was better than he was at the start, and now he's dropped a level and done well, and now we're seeing him perform very well at Stockport, and he could get a Championship move.

"I'd be keen. I don't think we need a striker, which I didn't think I'd ever say for Sunderland in the last couple of years. I think we want a right-winger more than a left-winger as well."

Jack added: "Mundle’s done well, Tommy Watson's coming through, and he's playing decent, but on the right-hand side, we’re a bit short. We've only got Patrick Roberts, so I'd probably tend to the right-wing first.

"But I wouldn't mind a loan for Barry, or maybe if we could get him on a permanent deal he wouldn't be a bad signing, I don't think."

Louie Barry would improve Sunderland's attacking options greatly

Despite some of Jack's worries about not needing another striker, Barry offers more than just being a traditional number nine, and he likes to drop deep to collect the ball and carry it forward.

His initiative to start attacks from those positions has allowed Stockport to become one of the outstanding teams in League One, and without him, they will find it difficult to maintain their current position in the top six.

At just 21, Barry does fit into Sunderland's youthful team dynamic, and he has shown that he is willing to learn from Dave Challinor at Edgeley Park, and Le Bris will only improve him further if he does make the switch to the Stadium of Light.

However, it would be a surprise to see the Black Cats make a move for the forward, considering the likes of Middlesbrough seem to be ahead of them in the pecking order as the January transfer window gets closer to opening.