Barnsley FC say there has been no approach for head coach Daniel Stendel, as they look to replace departing players ahead of the 2019/20 Championship season.

The German head coach was linked by reports to the Reds’ second tier rivals Middlesbrough, who are managerless, but sources at Oakwell say there has been no approach and they are determined to keep Stendel.

The club are hopeful that the coach – who secured promotion in his first season at the club – will extend his current two-year contract which is due to expire next summer.

But reports this week suggested he was waiting to see what moves the club made in the transfer market before committing to a longer contract.

Barnsley have so far signed promotion heroes Cauley Woodrow and Jacob Brown to longer deals while taking the options to extend the stays of Mike Bahre and Dimitri Cavare.

They are hoping to lengthen the contracts of Liam Lindsay, Ethan Pinnock, Mamadou Thiam and Cameron McGeehan – all of whom have just one year remaining on their current deals.

Italian top flight club Brescia are reported to have made a £1million bid for Lindsay, but the Chronicle understands only inquiries have been made and that price is well under his valuation.

But the Reds look set to lose captain and goalkeeper Adam Davies who is understood to be on the verge of a move to Championship rivals Stoke City. The 26-year-old – who starred in the promotion season – has now reached the end of his Barnsley contract having spent five years with the club after joining from Sheffield Wednesday. 

Barnsley have been linked with a move for another Owls stopper in Cameron Dawson but they are also understood to be interested in overseas goalkeepers. 

Davies’ Wales international colleague Ryan Hedges rejected a new contract this week to join Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen. The 23-year-old winger started only five games during the promotion season while three quarters of his 52 league appearances in two and a half years at Oakwell were as a substitute. 

Hedges was the second longest-serving first team player at Oakwell, behind Davies, so the only players who have been at the club longer than two years are likely to be Jacob Brown and Alex Mowatt who were both loaned out during the 2017/18 campaign.

Hedges will join in Scotland another fringe player from Barnsley’s promotion squad after released centre-back Adam Jackson moved to Hibernian to reunite with former Oakwell boss Paul Heckingbottom. The Reds are waiting for several under 23s players to sign the deals offered to them at the end of the season.