Louie Barry has been left in limbo after his proposed move to Hull City fell through. A number of Championship clubs are interested in signing the Aston Villa forward, who spent the second half of the 2024/25 season on loan at City.
With a return to the MKM Stadium now looking increasingly unlikely, Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie reckons Middlesbrough can take advantage of the Tigers’ situation. Speaking to Football League World prior to City’s EFL punishment, Hendrie said: “I think with this deal at Hull, the breakdown might be down to wages, the transfer fee, and this is the problem most Championship clubs are going to struggle to contend with.
“If you’re looking at clubs that might hijack this then you’re probably looking at the top end of the Championship, someone like a Middlesbrough. West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City have also been linked; a number of clubs that have got stacks of potential, money to really spend this season – that’ll be the clubs that will probably be looking to hijack this deal.
“I think they should. Louie Barry is a fantastic player, he’s shown that jumping down the leagues at Stockport. I know taking that step up at Hull and getting injured was a bit of a backwards step, but he’s got stacks of abilities, plays in a number of positions in a number 10, out wide and through the middle. So I think it will be appealing to most of the top-end Championship clubs to hijack this deal.”
Although the Tigers are no longer under a transfer embargo after settling an outstanding debt with Villa surrounding Barry’s loan deal in January, the Championship club have been handed the punishment of a three window transfer fee restriction by the English Football League.
City are alleged to have missed more than 30 days of payments to football creditors in the past 12 months, with the fixed punishment for that being a restriction on buying players for three transfer windows, which takes the club until January 2027. The club are appealing the sanction.
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