Barnsley chief executive Gauthier Ganaye says work is ongoing at Oakwell to retain and recruit players in order to sustain the club’s promotion push and prepare for the future.
Ganaye announced at the start of September that contract offers had been made to several players whose deals will run out at the end of the season and others who the club want to tie down on a longer-term basis. Alex Mowatt has been offered a new deal while the others out of contract in 2019 include Adam Davies, Adam Jackson, George Moncur and Ryan Hedges. First choice right-back Dimitri Cavare’s contract officially ends next summer but the club have the option to extend it for another year.
Ganaye told the Chronicle: “It’s still ongoing. Obviously it takes a bit of time. We are only in September so some of them are waiting to see how the team is performing or if they are getting gametime. The ball is in their court and I hope we will have good news.”
Mowatt has been one of the stars of the season in central midfield, having been loaned out to Oxford United last season with the Reds expecting to sell him until head coach Daniel Stendel intervened. Ganaye said: “Someone like Alex Mowatt has been performing above our expectations so our plans have changed. We have offered him a deal and I think it would be the right thing for both parties if he signed it.”
Barnsley were criticised for not tying down the 2016 promotion team to longer contracts which led to almost all of them leaving within two years. Ganaye wants to avoid a repeat, saying: “That is why we started to discuss with them in the summer, after Daniel (Stendel, the head coach) gave us his views on everybody. We have started doing it at the right time so hopefully we won’t end up in the same situation again.”
If the players offered new deals do not sign, they could be sold in January to avoid losing them for free next summer. He said: “When a player has 12 months left, you can either let the deal run out and lose the player for nothing, try to give him a new contract or sell him in January. Our January plans will be changed by the negotiations because, if players don’t want to stay, we may sell them depending on the situation.”
Ganaye added that there are detailed plans in place for every position if new recruits are needed. He said: “We are always working one or two windows ahead. We are prepared for anything, like when Tom Bradshaw left and we had Cauley Woodrow ready to come in. We don’t know yet if we will recruit in January, but we have plans in place if we want to.”
One player who Ganaye says will not be joining the club is Adam Hammill. The Reds legend, 30, was released at the end of last season then held talks about a return. Barnsley usually only sign players aged 25 or under.
Ganaye said: “Adam doesn’t fit the usual criteria for our recruitment but, because he is Adam Hammill, we have been in touch with him during the summer. We took a decision with the club and with Daniel that it wasn’t right to bring him back. It wasn’t easy because he’s a great character and there are emotions involved. But the best decision is not always the easiest.”
Overall, Ganaye is delighted with the start to the season under German Stendel, even though a seven-match unbeaten run was ended by a 1-0 loss at Coventry City on Saturday. He said: “Hiring a new manager then having such a good start to the season is very satisfying. He’s picked up English very quickly, he’s very popular with the fans and with the employees of the club. It’s a good start to the season, even with the first loss. I didn’t miss the losing feeling so it still wasn’t nice. It was going to happen at some point but hopefully it doesn’t happen again for a long time.”
