Barry spent time at Barcelona’s famous academy, which has produced world class players like Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Pedri, Gavi, and Lamine Yamal.
The 21-year-old left West Brom in July 2019 for La Masia, but then returned months later for Villa.
“I’m 21 and I’ve racked up almost 120 senior appearances,” Barry, now on-loan with Stockport, told The i.
“That’s what I wanted. I went to Ipswich for my first loan and it didn’t go well. I didn’t really know what I was going into.
"I was a young 18-year-old. I wasn’t getting making matchday squads and I was low, yet on the flipside I had this deep hunger that wasn’t being satisfied. So I got out to Swindon Town.
“I think people forget that I’m only 21 because my name has maybe been around for a while. Not a lot of 21-year-olds have played as much league football as me and experience comes with being on the pitch. But what has really made me mature is that I have had the lows and never want to go back there or feel that again."
“Weirdly enough, I hadn’t experienced anything like it before I went to Barcelona but then when I came back to Aston Villa it was very similar,” he added.
“Unai Emery is evidently an unbelievable coach for improving players and I was with him in pre-season this year. It was crazy to me how similar the training was to my time in Barcelona: the rondos, the in-possession box work and drills.
“I loved my time in Barcelona. I don’t have a bad word to say about it. But I decided to come back close to home. We had got wind that Covid-19 might be a big thing. Villa are 10 minutes away from my family home. I grew up there. I support Villa. I wouldn’t have gone anywhere else and I’m so thankful that they came in for me. And it was everything to be back with the family.”
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