Stockport County and Dave Challinor may already have their Louie Barry replacement | OneFootball

They may not need to spend any money in the January window with this man in their ranks

The main focus for Stockport County heading into the January transfer window will be the future of Aston Villa loanee Louie Barry.

The 21-year-old has hit the ground running in League One with the Hatters, netting 14 goals in 20 third-tier appearances so far.

That form has led to speculation that the Villans may look to recall the forward in January and look to place him higher up the pyramid, to the point manager Dave Challinor admitted the situation was out of the club’s control.

Naturally, attention then turns to who might come in to replace the goals offered by Barry, but the answer may already be at the club.

Tanto Olaofe could be the man to solve Barry issue

Tanto Olaofe was one of County’s most promising performers in the 2023/24 season, hitting 20 goals in the club’s charge to the League Two title.

This term has been decidedly quieter, with the 25-year-old afforded just four league starts, in part thanks to the form of Barry and target man Kyle Wootton, plus the additions of wide forwards Jack Diamond and Jayden Fevrier in the summer.

He is still off the mark in League One this season, hitting two goals and an assist in his total 18 appearances, but it's nowhere near the contributions he made this time last year.

Olaofe’s goalscorer talents were on show for all to see last season, and he looked to be improving even further with the more games he was playing, but he appears to have been stunted slightly.

If Challinor can help Olaofe with the full transition to League One starter, there are goals in Olaofe without needing to go to market this January.

Barry and Olaofe have different profiles, but end result could be similar

Olaofe certainly wouldn’t be a like-for-like replacement for Barry, but the main objective of anyone coming up to pick up the slack he may leave behind will be replacing his goals.

The former Millwall man is a lot more physical than Barry, using his lightning-quick pace and substantial frame to beat defenders to balls and hold them off once in possession, whereas Barry is more likely to pick the ball up in a deeper area and use his dribbling abilities to beat his marker and rush to the byline or cut in for a chance at goal.

Despite offering slightly different ways of doing things, both men are capable of playing in a front two or shifting a little wider to stretch the pitch.

Olaofe’s finishing could be erratic when he first arrived at Edgeley Park, but his 20-goal season last coincided with much more refined movements in those important moments, something which could develop further with greater exposure to the pitch.

It would be interesting to see if Olaofe and Wootton could strike up a strong partnership

The one issue that comes with the theory that Olaofe could replace Barry’s goals is that many of his 20 goals in the last campaign came alongside Barry in his first loan spell, before the latter got injured.

Olaofe still put plenty on the board after, but his strongest partner has undoubtedly been Barry.

In theory, playing off a strong presence like Wootton and using Olaofe’s pace to break opposition lines should work, but the reality doesn’t always match the theory.

Nevertheless, if Barry does leave Stockport in January, then County could do worse than giving their top scorer from last season a greater chance to prove himself in League One.