Milton Keynes Dons have snapped up Louie Barry on loan from Aston Villa ahead of the 2022/23 League One season.
Barry, 19, joins the Dons after spending time with a number of clubs' youth academies during his fledgling career - including West Bromwich Albion and Barcelona along with current parent club Aston Villa.
After joining the Premier League side back in 2020, Barry has been a prolific scorer at youth level, scoring 22 goals in 27 appearances for the Villans' youth teams.
His efforts saw him earn a loan to Ipswich Town and later with League Two side Swindon Town last season, gaining his first experiences of competitive first-team football outside of a solitary FA Cup appearance during the 2020/21 season.
He struggled to establish himself at Portman Road, but in 14 regular season games with Swindon, Barry netted six times and provided an assist - regularly finding himself named among the starting eleven for the Robins.
Now, the Dons will be hoping he can provide more goals in their quest to earn promotion to the Championship in Liam Manning's second year at the helm.
Speaking of joining the club, Barry said: "I’m very pleased to be here. I spoke with the Gaffer and he sold it to me. I had a lot of interest this summer but this move really suits me so I went with my gut instinct and I’m really excited it’s all come together."
"I was very pleased with how things went with Swindon. I needed to do well there and the positive experiences help me come here with confidence and hopefully I can put that into my time here at MK Dons to help us push on."
"I spoke with Kaine (Kesler Hayden) who was here last season – we had the same route. It worked well for Kaine and while that doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for me, it does paint a good picture for me as to what I can achieve."
He added: "I am just really excited to get to work. I am looking forward to enjoying my football here in front of the fans and hopefully I can help the team achieve its aims."
Sporting Director Liam Sweeting commented: "Louie is an exciting attacking player that we have watched whilst playing Premier League 2 football for Aston Villa Under-23s and through his loan spells at Ipswich Town and, most recently, Swindon Town."
"He fits the type of player Liam is looking for in this position as he runs in behind, attacks the back post and is a real goal threat."
"He is very much on the upward curve and is another good pick up for us, utilising the loan market positively, with someone who has had successful experience already in the EFL. I am looking forward to his progress continuing with us here at MK Dons."
Head Coach Liam Manning added: "Louie is an exciting player who has had an interesting career journey already, despite his young age. He has a number of experiences and comes here on the back of a successful spell at Swindon Town last season."
"He has some excellent attributes which will compliment our team well. His job now is to work alongside the coaches to produce high-quality moments consistently in order to contribute to the team’s goals."
