‘Tough window’ goes to final hours for Reds Local firms and charities to sponsor Barnsley’s shirts
■ ■ ■ At least Helik set to leave, Reds hoping to sign Burnley’s Phillips Iseka exit ‘probably best for all parties’ admits head coach Multi-positional loanee Martin will ‘add different option’ in attack
MICHAEL Duff admits it has been a ‘tough window’ for Barnsley but was hopeful yesterday that he would have a ‘competitive squad’ by this morning.
The summer transfer window closed at 11pm last night.
As of early evening yesterday, the
Reds were hoping to sign at least one more player – with a deal for Burnley midfielder Adam Phillips very close, and work underway to bring in others.
Centre-back Michal Helik was expected to join Championship club Huddersfield Town while Callum Styles’ future was unclear with a move still possible.
They had been linked to Hull City striker Tyler Smith and Newcastle’s midfielder Matty Longstaff. They had also been looking for a right wing-back.
The Reds signed Norwich’s attacking midfielder Josh Martin on a season-long loan with an option to buy on Wednesday.
Speaking yesterday morning, Duff told the Chronicle: “It’s been a difficult window, there is no getting away from that.
“I don’t think we’re the only club who have found it difficult. But it has been a tough window for us.
“Ideally you get your squad on the first day of pre-season but I knew there was a lot of moving parts walking in the door.
“Ideally we wouldn’t have to wait until the last day. We might not get the players we want but my job is to work with the players we have, make the team as competitive as I can and give as many good performances as we can.
“If we don’t get the players we want, we won’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, it’s the circumstances we’re in. We will try to get in what we can and work with what we’ve got.”
Phillips, a 24-year-old attacking midfielder, registered six goals and eight assists for League One Morecambe on loan last season.
Duff said: “He’s a good player, I know him from Burnley and he did well at Morecambe. But if I went through every name we’ve looked at, we’d be sat here until the next window.”
Helik and Styles have been expected to be sold all summer.
Poland international centre-back Helik, who will be 27 next week, joined the Reds in September 2020 and made 89 appearances. Styles, the 22-year-old Hungary international, signed from Bury in 2018 and made 128 appearances including every league game this season – scoring on Saturday in the 2-2 draw at Ipswich.
Captain Mads Andersen has been another interesting other clubs.
The Reds had previously, this summer, sold strikers Cauley Woodrow and Carlton Morris as well as right wingback Callum Brittain. They are hoping to make back the roughly £7-8million shortfall from being relegated from the Championship in May.
Have the Reds been waiting for players to be sold to bring in new recruits?
Duff said: “How long have you got? Trying to get players, keep others, balance the books, there are loads and loads of moving parts. We sold a couple really early. It’s just about, by the morning, having as competitive a squad as possible.”
Striker Aaron Leya Iseka, 24, has not been in a matchday league squad under Duff and is not thought to have impressed the head coach in training.
The Belgian has made 27 appearances, scoring three goals, since arriving last summer on a four-year deal.
Although the window for many countries closed last night, clubs in several European leagues can still sign players until next week.
On Iseka, Duff said: “It’s probably best for all parties if he moves on. But it’s not in our hands. It’s up to Aaron. It’s not personal, I chat with him all the time. “Do I see him playing in my team? No. “We have had that conversation.
“He’s still contracted so it’s up to him what he wants to do.”
He added: “He hasn’t done enough in training. I won’t comment too much on individuals but my squad tells you who I think has been training well. You have a group of 20 to 25 people, some are at different stages and have different motivation. It’s not about me and him. I don’t think he’s where he needs to be and we have a group that is working hard.”
The Reds have been looking to move on players who either are not in Duff’s plans or are on the fringes of the first team squad but need gametime on loan at a lower level.
Some of the young players could leave after the EFL window if they are moving to non-league clubs on loan.
Duff said yesterday: “I don’t think the younger younger ones are priorities.
“The squad is thin so, before people come, they won’t be going out.”
Martin, a 20-year-old winger, is likely to play in attacking midfield in Duff’s 3-4-1-2 system. He never appeared for Norwich but was loaned out to League One twice last season, making five substitute appearances for MK Dons in the first half of the campaign then registering four goals and three assists in 20 games for relegated Doncaster Rovers.
Duff said: “He’s been on the list a long time. When I came in, he was on the list.
“In terms of the data the club works to, he ticks a lot of boxes. It works in terms of age, wages, ambitions. He will give us a different option. He did well last season in a struggling team at Donny. He can play a number of positions – in a front three, number ten, even wing-back at a push when we’re really attacking.”
See www.barnsleychronicle.com for a full round-up of transfer activity.
BARNSLEY FC will be sponsored by several different local firms and charities this season with a percentage of the profits going to charities who focus on discrimination.
The Reds cancelled their sponsorship with HEX in August over homophobic social media posts allegedly sent by representatives of the cryptocurrency. Their new ‘Together Red’ scheme will see a handful of companies sponsor the shirts in blocks of games throughout the season, with charities on the shirts in at least eight matches. The first sponsor was Rapid Response Telecoms, whose name was on shirts for the 2-2 draw at Ipswich Town on Saturday.
Chief executive Khaled El-Ahmad said: “Challenging hate and abuse is integral to all at Oakwell, however it is not something that a football club undertakes on its own. It requires the collective backing of a community.
“I’m conscious of the work that the club and Reds in the Community have done, and continue to do, to combat these contentious issues. However, now, we are calling on all Barnsley Football Club fans and partners to unite, take a true stand, and help eradicate discriminatory abuse.”