Aston Villa forward Louie Barry is in talks to join Championship side Hull City.
The 21-year-old is one of the hottest properties on the market following his goalscoring exploits on loan at Stockport County.
Celtic have already had an offer worth £10million rejected, as have French side Lens, for the former Barcelona junior.
Leeds United and Sheffield United have also been asking for Barry as they look to bolster their goal threat in the Championship promotion race.
However, Hull have now emerged as surprise favourites after discussing an advantageous package for Villa and pointing to their track record of developing players in recent seasons – giving the likes of Jacob Greaves, Liam Delap and Fabio Carvalho the platform to move on ready-made for the Premier League.
Indeed, Villa were also impressed by the job Hull had done with Jaden Philogene, so much so that they exercised their buy-back option last summer before selling him at a profit to Ipswich Town this month.
Unai Emery had been looking to keep Barry, who made his Villa debut at the age of 21, after looking at him in training but now recognised he would gain greater game time and experience in the Championship under fellow Spaniard Ruben Selles.
Aston Villa are in talks with Hull City over a loan move for 21-year-old forward Louie Barry
Celtic have had a £10million offer rejected for Barry, who made his Villa debut back in 2021
Unai Emery had been looking to keep the star after looking at him in first team training
Barry scored 15 goals in 23 games for Stockport in the first part of the season.
He also spent last season on loan with the club in League Two, netting nine goals in 22 games.
