Louie Barry's name has been doing the rounds of the Celtic rumour mill for a few weeks now as it looks like the Scottish champions have the Aston Villa forward in their sights. There has even been talk of a potential transfer offer from the Hoops, £5 million initial fee plus another £5 million in add-ons. It remains to be seen how accurate that turns out to be.
But considering the quantity of rumours coming out everyday from wide-ranging sources, there definitely has to be some serious level of interest on the part of Celtic when it comes to signing Barry from Aston Villa. And it is not hard to see why the Hoops might be keen.
Barry spent the first half of the season out on loan at Stockport County, before returning to Aston Villa recently. He scored 15 goals in 23 League One appearances during that period of time and has a proven goalscoring record when it comes to youth football as well.
On the other hand, Celtic need to strengthen both at centre-forward and on the flanks. Incidentally, Barry is capable of playing in both roles.
Aston Villa make Louie Barry exit decision amid Celtic interest
What is Aston Villa's stance on parting ways with Barry though? Well, it looks like we have an update on that situation.
As reported by Football Insider, Unai Emery wants to have a look at Barry in close quarters during Aston Villa’s training sessions, and his future will very much depend on what the club wants to do with him after that point. They want him to sign a new contract before potentially loaning him back out. But the player wants to try and compete for a place in their first team, which means a permanent deal for him to leave is on the cards.
It is an interesting situation for sure and nothing seems to be set in stone. It remains to be seen how things will play out between now and the end of the winter transfer window.