The 22 year old has put pen to paper on a two-year-contract after being released by Yeovil Town at the end of last season.

Liverpool-born Barry, a former schoolboy player at Liverpool and an Everton trainee, admitted he was happy to be back in the North West.

He said: "I had a few meetings with Chester during the last month, but I'm just delighted that I'm now here and that I've finally completed the deal.

"Coming back to the North West was a big part of my decision to sign for Chester. I was keen to come home, enjoy myself, see my family again, and hopefully that will all help my football.

"I've played a lot of football up here accept for the last three or four years when I was away at Coventry and Yeovil, but the majority of my football has been during my time with Liverpool and Everton.

"I enjoyed my time at Yeovil and I played a lot of games for them. I hope my time in League One last season will help me when I come to play for Chester in League Two this season."

Barry is relishing his role as a central midfielder where he will compete for a starting role with Mark Hughes, Paul Rutherford, and Glenn Rule.

He added: "My preferred role is to play down the middle, but I'll play wherever the manager asks me to play.

"When I get on the ball, I like to pass the ball and I would imagine I'll be one of the fittest players in the league once the season gets underway.

"I'm looking forward to dominate in the games I play in and hopefully take Chester forward.

"In the past I've played in front of the back four and I've also played behind the front man, so I can vary my game but I would like to get forward and help create chances for the forwards.

"I wouldn't have come to Chester if I didn't think we had a good chance of getting promoted.

"I don't want to be in this league any longer than I have to and neither does the manager or the chairman.

"I feel that I've come to a club that is good enough to get out of this league.

"I've arrived at Chester full of confidence and full of self-belief that I can do a good job."

Barry revealed he already knew a number of players currently in the Chester squad.

He said: "I know Laurence Wilson, and I grew up playing alongside James Vaughan, so I know the chairman.

"I also know Richie Partridge from his Liverpool days, so I know we've got a mainly young, fit squad of players at Chester that is capable of getting out of League Two."

Blues assistant manager Huw Griffiths has welcomed Barry to the Deva Stadium and is looking forward to the new campaign.

Griffiths said: "I'm delighted that we've signed Anthony Barry - he's been talking to us for about a month and we've both been dragging our heels, but we're relieved to finally get him.

"Anthony is our first signing and I can't express how happy I am. He was our first target and we're all delighted that he has put pen to paper.

"He is very ambitious like Simon Davies and myself and he came across very positively when he spoke to us in our talks.

"For a relatively young lad Anthony is an experienced player having played lots of games in the league above for Yeovil.

"We're wanting to sign young players like Anthony who can race round the park, get in people's faces, and play football when he can."

Griffiths added: "Anthony is only one of the players we're trying to sign in central midfield, but we're looking to make signings in other positions as well and we could have other signings as early as next week.

"We're looking to bring in players who we believe would strengthen our team and our squad.

"The signing of Anthony Barry shows the ambition of our chairman and that the club is moving in the right direction.

"We were surprised to find that Anthony was available. Simon and I were going through the PFA list of players and jotting down the names of players that were local to this area or who have played in this area.

"Once we saw Anthony was available we made him our first priority and it was great to see him sign for Chester."