"Please don't go" - Stockport County, Louie Barry "fear" raised as Middlesbrough circle | OneFootball

The Aston Villa loanee looks incredibly likely to go back to his parent club in January, with Middlesbrough interested.

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...

Stockport County currently find themselves within the top six of League One at the moment, and have been one of the surprise packages after the opening four months of the season.

The Hatters were only promoted to the third tier in the 2023/24 campaign, but they have quickly adapted back to life in the division and look capable of fighting for a play-off place come May.

However, a lot of their success will be defined by the January transfer window and whether they can keep hold of Louie Barry, who is currently on loan at Edgeley Park from Premier League side Aston Villa.

The 21-year-old has impressed greatly in his second spell at Stockport, after helping the team to the League Two title last season, but it now seems likely that he will be recalled by Unai Emery next month and loaned out to a Championship side instead.

Louie Barry named in Stockport's greatest January fear debate

It's been a tremendous end to 2024 for the forward, and he leads the way in the League One scoring charts with 13. However, with the rumours surrounding him, there will be plenty of worry surrounding the Greater Manchester club at this moment in time.

Barry has scored just under half of the Hatters' goals in 2024/25, and his manager, Dave Challinor, will be at a loss without him in the second-half of the campaign if he is sent back to the West Midlands.

Football League World asked their Stockport Fan Pundit, James Cropper, about his greatest fear for the upcoming January transfer window, with there only being one answer to the question.

He told FLW: "My biggest fear about my club heading into the January transfer window is a pretty obvious one, it's the fact that Louie Barry is most likely going to leave.

"It is always the risk you run with taking in a loan player of that quality. Some County fans do like to deny it, but we have built our team around him. He is by far our best player.

"I think it's pretty much confirmed or at least 90% likely that he will get recalled and sent to a Championship club. Middlesbrough are in the mix, but when/if that does happen, I think there could be a dramatic fall off.

"Right now, we're pushing for play-offs and with the squad we have, I'll admit we are punching quite a bit above our weight. But with Barry in our team, he is definitely assisting that a lot."

James added: "So, I do think that without Barry we will end up in mid-table, which isn't bad for a first season in League One, but the fact that our whole team revolves around him does worry me a bit because we haven't really got that star quality.

"It's a very, very compact team, everyone's of the same ability. We've got other wingers like Odin Bailey, but they're nowhere near as good as Barry. So, who do we replace him with?

"There’s been talks about us buying Benoný Breki Andrésson from KR Reykjavík. He's 19-years-old, he's been doing quite well in the Icelandic league, so if we can bring him in, he might not have an instant impact, but if we give him a little bit of game-time, then I think, if he's good enough, he can be big player for us.

"But right now, I'm struggling to see where we get a lot of our goals from without Barry. So, the one thing I'm worried about is losing Barry. Please don't go."

Louie Barry departing would be detrimental to Stockport's season

Although nothing is confirmed right now, it does seem incredibly likely that Barry will return to his parent club in January and then move on to a Championship side to see out the season, with Middlesbroughone of those interested.

Losing the 21-year-old would be incredibly detrimental to Stockport and Challinor's season, with a lot of their positive play coming directly from the youngster.

While he did not have the same level of impact in terms of goals in his first year at the club, this campaign has been a breakout one for Barry, and he has shown that he has more than enough to prove himself in the league above.

Nevertheless, it would not be surprising to see the Hatters slip down the table towards those in mid-table without finding a true replacement. For the Villa loanee, however, it is incredibly important that he gets the chance to play at a level that will truly test him and allow him to show just how good he can be.