Middlesbrough will hope to recreate Aston Villa success with Stockport County call | OneFootball

The Hatters have a strong recent history in boosting careers with their Louie Barry work

Middlesbrough winger Micah Hamilton became the next big-name loanee to make his way to Stockport County this January.

He moved from Manchester City to Boro in the summer to pursue first-team football, but didn’t quite get off to the start he and everybody else involved would have liked.

That leads him to this short-term spell away, where the hope is that dipping into the third tier will help him build towards being ready for the demands at the Riverside Stadium.

The move comes in the same month that saw former loanee Louie Barry recalled back to Aston Villa after an incredibly successful spell. Boro will be hoping Hamilton can go through a similar transformation.

Barry set a blueprint at Edgeley Park

As was expected, it’s clear through Hamilton’s move that Edgeley Park has become a desirable landing spot for teams who want to give their young stars a boost, ever since the Hatters’ strong work with Barry.

His two loan spells prior to arriving in Stockport for the first time saw him go to MK Dons, then in League One, and Salford City in League Two.

Making 41 league appearances for the two clubs combined in the 2022/23 season, he scored just three goals.

It’s not the sort of form that would set tongues wagging, but County showed faith. He returned that trust by the bucketload, netting nine goals in 20 appearances in his first stint, before upping it even further in his second spell with 15 goals in 23 league outings, despite the Hatters jumping a division.

Having previously been of questionable desirability due to his previous failed loan spells, Barry left Stockport with half of the Championship chasing his signature and the likes of Celtic reportedly willing to spend £10million on him.

It was an incredible transformation, thanks to the work of manager Dave Challinor, his team and Barry himself.

Middlesbrough hoping for Barry-esque effect with Hamilton

There is no doubt those at Boro know all about Barry’s story — they were one of those Championship clubs vying to take him on loan — so they will be hoping for similar results with Hamilton.

It hasn’t been an ideal start for the 21-year-old in Michael Carrick’s side, making just 13 Championship appearances, two of which from the start, and yet to register a goal involvement.

This was Hamilton’s first consistent taste of senior football, having risen through the ranks at City and made just a handful of appearances before his £2million move to the Riverside.

He’s clearly highly rated, but may just need a little longer to make that transition to the senior games — the parallels between Hamilton and Barry are clear, and Boro will therefore hope for similar results.

First impressions suggest Hamilton could fill in for Barry

Hamilton made his Stockport debut as a substitute against Crawley Town in League One and, although still seeming somewhat raw, he looks to bring a similar game to the Hatters that Barry did.

The former City man was constantly looking to beat his man, make runs off the ball, pulling off eye-catching bits of skill and generally looking to make things happen.

That’s what Barry brought, so it’s easy to see why the decision-makers at Edgeley Park have backed Hamilton to do the same.

If it comes off, Boro will be delighted to see their young player developed further, County will have another loan-success story, and they’ll also have received a boost in their push for a play-off place.