Aston Villa forward closing in on loan exit after transfer collapse

Negotiations between the clubs are advanced with the deal expected to be completed within the next few days.

Barry will join the Blades on loan with no option to buy, for what will be his first sustained taste of Championship football.

The 22-year-old made only four appearances in the second tier for Hull last season, having sustained an injury soon after making his January loan switch.

A permanent move to the Tigers then looked on the cards earlier this month, only for the proposed £3.5million deal to collapse at the 11th hour amid concerns over the Championship club’s finances.

Barry has been tracked by several other Championship clubs and it is the Blades, who were denied promotion back to the Premier League by Sunderland in last season’s play-off final, who have come to the fore. They are now managed by former Hull boss Ruben Selles, who played a key role in taking the player to the Tigers in January and was then sacked at the end of the season.

A product of Albion’s academy, Barry spent a brief spell with Barcelona before joining Villa - the club he has supported since childhood - for £880,000 in January 2020. 

He made his sole senior appearance for the club in an FA Cup third round tie against Liverpool a year later, scoring Villa’s goal in a 4-1 defeat when the club were forced to field their youth team due to a Covid outbreak at Bodymoor Heath.

Barry has most recently starred while on loan at Stockport in League Two and League One, scoring 16 goals in the first half of last season before being recalled by Villa and sent to Hull.

While Villa were prepared to move him on permanently this summer, removing his salary from the wage bill for the season helps in the club’s battle to comply with Uefa’s financial fair play rules.

Villa were fined £9.5million for breaching the regulations earlier this month and must comply with a settlement agreement negotiated with the governing body to avoid further sanction.