Aston Villa announced the signing of promising teenage striker Louie Barry from Barcelona for a fee of about one million euros ($1.1 million) on Thursday.
Birmingham-born Barry joined the Spanish champions from West Bromwich Albion in July 2019.
The highly-rated 16-year-old was reported to be unsettled by changes to Barcelona’s coaching set-up and jumped at the chance to join Villa, the club he supported as a child.
When Barry signed for Barcelona, the club described him as “one of the best young players in English football” but he made just 10 appearances for their youth teams, scoring two goals.
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The England youth international will link up with West Brom’s former academy manager Mark Harrison, who took up a similar position at Villa in September.
“It sends a powerful message about the ambition of this football club.”
Academy Manager Mark Harrison on the arrival of Louie Barry from Barcelona… #AVFC
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 23, 2020
“It sends a powerful message about the ambition of this football club. We’re delighted. Louie is a local person and his family are all Villa fans, as is Louie,” Harrison told Villa’s website.
“He is still a very young man but as he’s developed, he’s always been one player that you recognise as having outstanding attributes.”
