Stockport County manager Dave Challinor has revealed that loanee Louie Barry is expected to return to action in mid-March after rejoining the club from Aston Villa yesterday.
The 22-year-old is back at Edgeley Park for a third stint after his temporary spell at Championship outfit Sheffield United was cut short last month. He first joined the Hatters at the beginning of the 2023/24 campaign, where he played a key role in their promotion from League Two. Despite that, injury limited the former Barcelona youngster to just 20 league appearances, although he did score nine times in 15 outings prior to suffering a hamstring complaint.
This form was enough for Stockport to bring the attacker back upon their return to League One. Barry made the step up with ease, where he netted 15 times in 23 league outings.
This prompted parent club Villa into making a decision, and they opted to send the ex-England youth international to Hull City for the second half of the season. However, his time at the MKM Stadium was once again disrupted by injury.
Barry Aiming To Relaunch Career In Familiar Surroundings
A summer scramble saw a host of second tier clubs battle it out for Barry’s signature, with Sheffield United eventually prevailing. He was an ever present under Ruben Selles, but the Spaniard’s departure and the return of Chris Wilder after just six games saw his game time diminish.
A return to the treatment table followed, with more knee issues ending his time at Bramall Lane. This led to reports that a return to League One was on the cards, which we exclusively revealed last month.
Stockport were always likely to be in pole position, especially as they are well in the race for promotion. They currently sit fourth in League One, six points behind Lincoln City in the final automatic promotion spot.
Welcome back, Louie 🤝
Stockport County is thrilled to announce the loan signing of Louie Barry from Aston Villa until the end of the season. #StockportCounty
— Stockport County (@StockportCounty) February 2, 2026
Challinor Issues Return Update
With the former Swindon Town loanee still on the sidelines, this is a signing which comes with a degree of risk. Speaking upon the announcement, manager Dave Challinor said there was never any doubt that this was one the club were willing to take:
“Whether Louie plays a massive part, a small part or even no part, the desire for all parties to reunite him back with the football club was unanimous.
“His connection with the club has become a special one from both sides and the impact he has had within our team when playing has been huge.”
Continuing, the 50-year-old put a timescale on the forward’s potential return:
“He’s obviously returning from an injury which required surgery, and we are in the hands of the medical teams as to when he returns. He’s stepping up his rehab and should be back running in the coming week or so and, all things being equal, we may see him back out on the pitch somewhere around the middle of March.
“If it’s quicker, fantastic, if it’s not, then so be it. We are doing this as a ‘possibility’ signing, but are very clear as to what could or could not happen.”
Should everything go to plan, this could potentially see Barry take to the field for the all-important promotion showdown against Lincoln at the LNER Stadium on March 14th.