Stockport County should be watching Blackburn Rovers, Leeds United developments closely | OneFootball

Blackburn could be able to help Stockport out with a Louie Barry replacement

Although it was widely expected to happen in January, Louie Barry being recalled by Aston Villa wasn't any less painful for Stockport County, who are now in the market for a replacement.

Whether that's a like-for-like kind of replacement, or simply someone who can produce the same volume of goals, remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure, the man tasked with replacing Barry has a huge hole to fill.

Barry was the top scorer in League One at the time of his recall, and to take a player of that quality out of any team in the league would serve as a crushing blow, but perhaps even more so for Stockport, whose next nearest scorer is on six goals.

County are yet to make a meaningful move to replace Barry, but there's one situation in particular they may be keeping a close eye on and hoping for a bit of a transfer domino effect, although those hopes rest firmly on Blackburn Rovers and Leeds United.

According to Alan Nixon, Blackburn are among a host of Championship clubs interested in taking Patrick Bamford from Leeds, and Rovers boss John Eustace admitted recently that the Chelsea academy graduate was a player who was on their list.

Rovers are in the market for a striker to bolster their promotion hopes, and with Bamford firmly out of favour at Elland Road, a move would certainly make sense, even if the pair are ultimately competing against each other in the upper echelons of the table.

The Lancashire outfit aren't blessed with too many striking options, a problem exacerbated by a recent injury to Yuki Ohashi and Makhtar Gueye's struggles in front of goal.

Gueye is now regarded as the club's first-choice striker, with Harry Leonard understudying after a return from a lengthy injury lay-off, but if Rovers are to get a deal for Bamford over the line, then it would push Leonard even further down the pecking order.

That could prompt Blackburn to look at loaning Leonard out for the rest of the season to get him some valuable minutes, and according to Darren Witcoop, there is already League One interest in Leonard, although no clubs were named.

Stockport should look to swoop for Harry Leonard

Since coming back into the first team fold on a regular basis after his injury lay-off, minutes have been hard to come by for Leonard and he undoubtedly won't be satisfied to be a bit-part player.

Stockport could give him some valuable first-team minutes, which would be a win-win for everyone in the deal - Blackburn see their player develop and Stockport reap the rewards of a striker who some would say is above League One level.

The 21-year-old could definitely bring a new dimension to the Stockport attack, and although he isn't a like-for-like replacement for Barry, there is potential there that can go some way to replicating his goalscoring exploits if given the opportunity.

Any potential move is only likely to come about if Rovers can land another striker, so County should be keeping a close eye on that deal, and if an agreement is struck, a move for Leonard would be wise.

His goalscoring exploits really could go a long way to cushioning the blow of losing Barry.