Medical booked as 15-goal Leeds United, Sheffield United & Sunderland 'target' to join Championship rivals

Hull City look set to beat a host of Championship rivals to the loan signing of Leeds United-linked Louie Barry, according to reports.

Aston Villa youngster Barry has been linked with just about every second-tier team since his recall from an impressive loan spell at Stockport County earlier this month. The versatile forward bagged 15 goals in 23 League One games during the first half of the season, enough to earn him a promotion to Championship-level football.

Leeds were initially named as a possible suitor for Barry last month, with the Mirror on Sunday naming them alongside Burnley, Sunderland and Middlesbrough in a ‘four-way scrap’ for the 21-year-old. Sheffield Wednesday were linked with interest back in November while Sheffield United, Derby County, Coventry City and Queens Park Rangers have also been cited by reports.

But it is Hull who look set to win that particular race, with BBC Radio Humberside journalist James Hoggarth reporting on Barry’s imminent move to the MKM Stadium. Hoggarth wrote on X: “BARRY INCOMING? It's our understanding that @AVFCOfficial's Louie Barry is to undergo a medical at Hull City ahead of a loan move. At this stage no further details are available. He scored 15 goals for Stockport County this season”.

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The signing of Barry would look like a huge coup on the face of things, given the level of reported interest from teams far higher up the Championship than Hull. But Villa are thought to be keen on ensuring their forward is starting regularly with the hope being he can replicate the 23 league appearances he won at Stockport.

It remains to be seen what other interested clubs might have offered but Leeds are not ones to provide any assurances over game time. The Whites have missed out on previous targets as a result of that stance, with the belief being it impacted their chances of signing Jesurun Rak-Sakyi on loan from Crystal Palace last summer, as well as an attempt to lure Fabio Carvalho away from Liverpool 12 months ago.

“Names are not important to me, just what you deliver and the quality you show on the training pitch and in games, behaviour in the dressing room, identification and commitment,” Farke told the YEP on the issue in August. “It's never a guarantee whoever I bring in that he plays. There will never be a guarantee in the contract, as long as I'm in charge, because I don't think it's healthy in implementing a performance culture - and that's how I work.”

Should his move to Hull go ahead, then Barry will join one of Leeds’ young prospects at the MKM Stadium. Joe Gelhardt’s six-month loan move to Humberside was confirmed almost a fortnight ago, with the 22-year-old playing all three games available to him since and scoring once.

The on-loan Whites man started on Friday as a resurgent Tigers side won 3-0 at Sheffield United, putting in a performance deserving of the result. There is now hope that under new boss Ruben Selles, and a raft of impressive January additions, Hull can start to pull away from relegation trouble.