Aston Villa confirmed the signing of the young starlet Louie Barry, who joined the Premier League side from Barcelona of all places, during the January transfer window.

The 16-year-old spent six months with the Catalan giants, following his transfer from West Bromwich Albion in July 2019.

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Unfortunately for him, he never managed to settle down in Spain, making just ten appearances for the club's youth teams before moving to Villa.

It remains to be seen, however, whether the young prodigy will be given any first-team chances in the remainder of the 2019/20 campaign as he is currently registered with their U18 squad.

Still, the expectations are clearly very as Barry has already received a glowing endorsement from academy manager Mark Harrison, who spoke to Villa TV following his transfer from the Blaugrana, as quoted by Goal:

"He can be an outstanding No.9 for this football club."

11 words which underline just how high he is expected to rise.

Of course, that is not the only thing Harrison highlighted in his interview but it's enough to show that Villa view him as a future star of the forward line.

The young centre-forward definitely has a lot to boast in his repertoire, as Harrison also mentioned in the same interview, once again relayed by Goal:

"He is still a very young man but as he’s developed, he’s always been one player that you always recognise as having outstanding attributes. He’s got a fantastic mentality, he’s desperate to do well for this football club. He’s really driven."

It remains to be seen whether he can live up to the hype but one thing is for sure - the Midlands outfit were certainly wise to snap him up at this stage in his development.