"Only if" - Birmingham City stance offered as shock Aston Villa transfer mooted | OneFootball

Louie Barry has been linked with yet another move away from B6

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Ahead of the club's return to the Championship, Birmingham City have already been linked with an array of potential statement signings.

Blues' financial muscle has been well-documented in the past 12 months, with the club breaking the League One transfer record three times last summer, as well as pulling out all the stops to acquire the services of top scorer Jay Stansfield on a seven-year contract from Fulham.

Unsurprisingly, Knighthead Capital Management are expected to invest heavily once more in the upcoming window, which opens on June 1st until June 10th, before re-opening six days later until the final deadline of 7PM on September 1st.

Despite boasting a squad which many believe is more than capable of challenging towards the play-off places immediately after blowing the third tier out of the water with an EFL and world-record 111-point haul, Chris Davies and the hierarchy are looking to add a plethora of fresh faces, with talk of a potential shock move for Aston Villa's Louie Barry recently surfacing, as the Villans are open to yet another temporary departure.

Barry is no stranger to clubs in the West Midlands, having started his career at West Bromwich Albion prior to a well-documented switch to Barcelona's 'La Masia' academy, before Villa returned the youngster to the area for a reported €1m fee back in January 2020.

The 21-year-old has had seven loan spells away from Villa Park since then, with last season proving a mixed bag, as he netted 16 goals in just 24 appearances during a second temporary stint with Stockport County, before Hull City fended off strong competition in January, although he made just four appearances for the Tigers before sustaining a season-ending knee ligament injury against Sunderland on February 22nd.

There's no doubting the England youth international's potential, which has once again caught the eye of Derby County, West Brom and Coventry, whilst his name has been "mentioned internally" by those at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

However, given the fierce and bitter rivalry that exists across the Second City, FLW's resident Bluenose, Jason Moore, would only want to see a move materialise on one condition.

"Louie Barry, great player, but I'm going to go off the assumption that loads of names have been mentioned internally at the Blues," he began.

"Should we be doing business with Villa?

"If it's a loan, no," Moore stated. "I don't want to be borrowing a Villa player to help our cause if we can help it.

"If it's a permanent, yes - maybe, But, that's only if he's going to be a key cog in what Chris Davies wants to do and if he's looked as a vital player and the price is right," he added.

"As a Blues fan, knowing that Villa are potentially going to have to sell players for PSR, I'd rather not help them! Granted, another club would buy him if that's the case, but I'd rather not help Villa out at all if I could help it.

"If the price was right, obviously, bring him in," Moore explained. "But, if he's going to be a bit-part player, then no, I wouldn't do any business at all.

"Loan, 100% no. Transfer for the right price, and if it's right for Chris Davies, sure, but only if he's a critical player.

"If he's a bit-part player, no thank you. He's had one good season and that was last season at Stockport," our fan pundit concluded.

Birmingham City are looking to strengthen in creative areas ahead of Championship return

Whilst it remains to be seen if Barry was the next player to cross the Brummie divide, it is clear that creative areas have been pinpointed as a department which needs bolstering ahead of August.

Peterborough United's Kwame Poku has been the subject of intense links with Blues, with Football League World exclusively revealing that a £30,000 per week contract offer was being readied by the club, although the Ghanaian has now emerged as a target for Sheffield United and Sunderland.

Aside from Keshi Anderson, who accumulated 13 goal contributions from out wide, others failed to step up to the mark on a consistent basis, with Willum Willumsson returning to form at the back end of the season after a lengthy drop-off in form, whilst Emil Hansson's first season in B9 didn't go to plan whatsoever, making just 20 league appearances.

Barry does have the potential to shine at the level despite his limited availability in East Yorkshire from January onwards, although it would frustrate Bluenoses if he was to have a stellar campaign and then return to B6 much improved as someone who could then have a major influence on Unai Emery's side in the coming years.

Therefore, as Moore alludes to, the club must mull over a potential transfer swoop with even greater thought than any other deals they look to complete in the coming weeks and months.