"The likes of Louie Barry" - Stoke City urged to sign particular style of winger | OneFootball

The Potters are in real need of additions in wide attacking areas this month

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...

A winger has been identified as the main position that Stoke City need to strengthen in the January transfer window, with a focus on a player similar to Louie Barry to help aid the Potters' poor form as a team in front of goal so far this season.

The Potters have had a turbulent season so far, and are now on their third manager or head-coach of this campaign under Mark Robins, who is sure to want to put his own stamp on his playing squad in the coming weeks and months to give his side the best chance of success going forward.

Stoke are yet to conduct any business in the January window up to now, but have recently decided to recall Lewis Baker from his loan spell at Blackburn Rovers, with more incomings and outgoings expected in the weeks to come.

Attacking reinforcements are likely to be high on the list of Robins' priorities this month, given that the Potters have been very reliant on Tom Cannon's goals and star winger Million Manhoef is still sidelined through injury.

Louie Barry-esque winger picked out as priority signing for Stoke City this month

Stoke are pretty thin out wide as it stands due to Manhoef's injury, with both Lewis Koumas and Bae Jun-ho relied on to start nearly every game in recent months due to Andre Vidigal being out-of-favour under both Steven Schumacher and Narcis Pelach so far this term.

Injury-plagued summer signing Sam Gallagher has also featured on the wing for the Potters, as has versatile full-back Lynden Gooch, but the Potters need to add much more output from wide areas to complement the goals of Leicester loanee Cannon, while Manhoef is likely sidelined for another two months.

Our Stoke fan pundit, Sam Harrison, has identified the Potters' need to sign a winger that can play on either side this month, and one that likes to invert and is of a similar playing style and age to in-demand Aston Villa starlet Louie Barry.

“The number one position that I think Stoke should be looking at, and I think it has been all but confirmed that they are in the market for one, is a winger,” Sam told FLW.

“A big reason as to why I say that is that Million Manhoef is out until around March, which leaves us with Lewis Koumas, Bae Jun-ho, and Andre Vidigal, who doesn’t look like he is going to get much game-time for whatever reason.

“There’s Sam Gallagher as well, who is just coming back to full fitness and is hopefully being eased back into it.

“In terms of the style of winger, it’s tough because when you have Lewis Koumas playing on the right, when he wants to go past a defender he looks really solid, and he can take a man on and drive at them to make his way into the box.

“On the other side you’ve got Jun-ho, who is so composed on the ball, has tricky feet and is really, really good, then also Manhoef who is an inverted winger, and can cut in and take fire.

“That is maybe what Stoke are missing, possibly, an inverted winger on the left, or even a conventional type, like a left-footed left-winger who can whip the ball in. That might work better with the likes of Tom Cannon in the box.

“I think you look at the likes of Louie Barry, who comes in off the left onto his right foot, takes players on and looks to drive and have that desire to get in to the box, then possibly take a shot or play someone through. I think he could work really well.

“In terms of wingers, I feel like the style that Barry brings is similar to Bae Jun-ho, in terms of not being afraid to take on a man, but I feel like we haven’t seen enough of that from him just yet, but we know he has got that in the locker.

“The likes of Louie Barry, that kind of winger, or maybe a bit more of an experienced head, is probably where Stoke should be looking.

“It will be interesting to see what kind of winger we sign, but I do think that position, either left or right, will be one that Stoke look to strengthen.”

Barry could be a possible realistic signing for the Potters

Stoke are yet to make any moves in the transfer window, and it looks as if the club are set to focus on loan moves or free transfers over the coming weeks as they tread a fine line regarding PSR and FFP.

That means that a move for someone like Barry could well be realistic, but the Potters would have to beat off some very strong Championship competition this month for the 21-year-old, after previously being linked with interest in his services by TEAMtalk last month.

Barry registered 16 goals and three assists in 24 games for Stockport in the first half of the season, and his impressive form saw him win the League One Player of the Month award for both August and November, which led parent club Villa to recall him from the Hatters at the start of this month in order to loan him back out to a Championship side.

The race for his signature has begun to heat up with the likes of Sheffield Wednesday and Derby County named as interested parties, while TEAMtalk have previously claimed that the likes of QPR, Sheffield United and Coventry City are also interested in making a move alongside the Potters.

The list of his suitors has only continued to grow, with Hull City and Millwall also both reported to be interested in Barry, but Stoke could use Robins' recent arrival as boss at the bet365 Stadium as a big pull for both Villa and the 21-year-old, given his track record of improving players from when he was in charge of Coventry.

Even if Barry does not make the move to the bet365 Stadium by the start of February, it is pretty clear that the Potters need to make improvements to the wingers in their squad, and no additions to their wide areas would represent a sizeable mistake for the rest of the season ahead.