Aston Villa youngster Louie Barry has made a ‘crazy’ comparison between his time at Barcelona and the methods of working under Unai Emery.
Villa captured Louie Barry from Barcelona as a 16-year-old at the start of 2020, beating the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United to his signature.
Such form prompted La Masia’s academy to snap him up in the summer of 2019, as he experienced six months at the European giants before returning to England with Aston Villa.
Villa loaned the young striker to Stockport County in the summer and Jude Bellingham was left stunned by Barry’s form, after scoring 12 goals in all competitions.
Most recently, Lee Hendrie was starstruck by the wonder goal Barry scored against Wrexham last weekend.
Although the 21-year-old is enjoying his time in the third tier, he’s now made a comparison between Unai Emery’s training methods at Villa Park and the ones at Barcelona.
Louie Barry on Barcelona training being ‘similar’ to Aston Villa’s
Barry has reflected on his six-month stint in Spain and he recalls the training being revolutionary to him, as was the emphatic focus on ball control and technique.
It left him stunned at how similar the training levels were between Barcelona and Aston Villa while praising Emery as ‘unbelievable’ for how he improves players.
“Weirdly enough, I hadn’t experienced anything like it before I went to Barcelona but then when I came back to Aston Villa it was very similar,” Barry told i.
“Unai Emery is evidently an unbelievable coach for improving players and I was with him in pre-season this year. It was crazy to me how similar the training was to my time in Barcelona: the rondos, the in-possession box work and drills.”
Emery boasts a track record of transforming his players, most notably Ollie Watkins, who is now one of Europe’s best strikers.
Emi Martinez has also been revolutionised under Emery, helping Villa qualify for the Champions League and winning the World Cup with Argentina.
For Barry, he will want to follow in the footsteps of his successful teammates in Birmingham but first, he must continue impressing in the third tier.
Aston Villa’s decision on Barry’s future awaits
Barry has proven he’s far too good for the third tier, with only Erling Haaland across England’s top four leagues scoring more goals than the Villa gem in 2024/25.
Villa showed their faith in Barry during the summer as they handed him a contract extension before sending him out on loan.
That said, once next summer rolls around, Emery could be left with a big decision to make.
At the age of 21, the former Barcelona man needs to be playing regular first-team football and with Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran battling for starts, that looks unlikely at Aston Villa in 2025/26.
Indeed, they should look to send Barry on loan to a Championship club to see how he fares in the second tier before making a big decision on his future.
