West Bromwich Albion loanee Harvey Barnes is reportedly being lined up for a January return to Leicester City.
Barnes has been superb since arriving at The Hawthorns in the summer, scoring five and providing two assists for Darren Moore’s side. His form is one of the key reasons why the Baggies went into the international break second in the Championship.
It also appeared that his performances had caught his parent club’s eye. The Daily Mail recently reported that Leicester were planning to use a recall clause within the loan deal to bring Barnes back to the King Power Stadium in January.
And while Dowling admitted that it is entirely possible that the attacking midfielder could leave ahead of schedule, he insisted that none of the talk with the Foxes has centred around a possible decision in January.
“As we speak there’s been no contact from Leicester in terms of him going back,” said Dowling, as reported by the Express and Star. “Obviously we speak to them regularly about his development which is natural in any loan.
“In terms of the speculation with Harvey going back, we can’t say definitely either way.”
It would be a huge blow for West Brom to lose Barnes in the winter when he is playing so well. They will have contingency plans in place should the 20-year-old head back to his parent club, but any player brought in would do remarkably well to match the impact that the youngster has had.
But for now, Moore will probably just be instructing Barnes to maintain his current form and give Leicester as difficult a decision as possible once the January window opens.
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