Daniel Stendel is due to meet his Barnsley squad for the first time on Monday when they return for pre-season training, with in-demand strikers Kieffer Moore and Tom Bradshaw likely to still be at Oakwell.
The 44-year-old German was appointed head coach 16 days ago and, following a trip back to his homeland, he was at Oakwell yesterday to meet club staff before getting to know his players next week after studying them on video clips.
It is unknown as yet whether Moore and Bradshaw will remain at the club for the beginning of the League One season in six weeks. But, as of last night, the Reds had rejected all bids for both, the Chronicle understands.
Rotherham United are understood to be among several clubs to have made inquiries about Bradshaw's availability with up to ten Championship outfits considering a move for the 25-year-old.
One bid has been made but it was well under Barnsley's value of the Wales international who scored 20 goals in 88 Reds matches and has one year remaining on his contract.The Reds rejected two bids of about £1million from Championship clubs last week for Moore, the 25-year-old who joined from Ipswich Town in January.
But the interest is understood to have cooled slightly this week with Barnsley holding out for a larger fee for a player who they signed for £750,000 and still has three years remaining on his contract. Reports of a release clause in his contract are incorrect.
Newly-promoted Rotherham, for whom Moore scored 13 goals in 25 games on loan last season in League One, are understood to be keen on re-signing him permanently but are not one of the two clubs who have made a bid.
Midfielder Stevie Mallan is being linked with a reunion with his former St Mirren manager Jack Ross who is now in charge of Barnsley's League One rivals Sunderland. Scottish club Hibernian are also interested in Mallan.
In terms of players coming in, the Reds are understood to be moving closer to completing their first deal but it is more likely to be done later next week. Stendel is likely to make changes to his squad throughout the current summer transfer window. He is expected to implement a high-pressing counter-attacking style with chief executive Gauthier Ganaye saying last week that the Reds were willing to make 'radical changes' to the squad in order for him to achieve that.
The deadline for permanent transfers is earlier than usual on August 9, which is now six weeks away, after the EFL voted to follow the Premier League's decision to end the window before the start of the top flight season. Loan deals can still be completed until the end of August with five loan players allowed in a matchday squad.
Stendel will have two weeks on the training ground with the players before the friendlies begin with a trip to non-league Gainsborough Trinity on July 7, the first of five confirmed pre-season games either side of a scheduled overseas trip. Barnsley, who were relegated out of the Championship last month, then begin their League One season on August 4 at home to Oxford United.
The Reds are still waiting for the contracts offered to several of their under 23s stars to be signed, with the deals likely to be completed next week once the players are back at Oakwell. Jack Walton – the 20-year-old goalkeeper who played the last three games of the 2017/18 season – has been offered a new deal as have Ben Williams, Romal Palmer, Will Smith, Amir Berkovits, Cameron Simpson and Louis Wardle.
The first transfer in or out of Oakwell was completed last Friday when Austrian midfielder Christoph Knasmullner was sold to Rapid Vienna. The 26-year-old joined in January from Admira Wacker on a two-and-a-half-year deal then made one start and two substitute appearances. Ganaye confirmed the Reds had made a profit on Knasmullner and suggested they had a sell-on clause.
