Paul Heckingbottom hopes the clubs trying to sign Andy Yiadom 'on the cheap' have now 'backed off' – but admits he cannot guarantee that his star defender will still be at Oakwell when the transfer window shuts at the end of August.
The Reds head coach says reports of a £3million offer for the 25-year-old Ghana international from Swansea City are incorrect – although the Welsh club are understood to still be interested. The only bids that have come in so far, including approaches from Huddersfield Town, have been far away from Barnsley's valuation.
Heckingbottom said: "We have been open with everyone. I told Andy straight away when we had bids. He knows how much we want him here. We're trying to find a solution for everyone and I am sure we will. We've been clear with every club – no one is going to get him on the cheap. We've been really clear and they seem to have backed off."Maybe they were thinking they could get really good value and, now they know what they would have to pay, they seem to have quietened down."
Heckingbottom – who said there was no progress on Yiadom signing the new contract Barnsley have offered him – has seen his club sell or lose most of the players that earned promotion under him in 2016 then performed well in the Championship last season.Asked by the Chronicle if he was confident Yiadom would be a Barnsley player at the end of the transfer window, he said: "How many players have you asked me that about? And how many have I got right? No."
Meanwhile, Heckingbottom wants at least four more players to arrive in the eight days before Barnsley begin their Championship season at Bristol City, with strikers still a priority as they are desperately short up front. The Reds have had a loan deal provisionally in place for weeks with Swansea for striker Oliver McBurnie, but the Welsh club are reluctant to let him go yet due to a lack of frontmen themselves.
The Reds boss told the Chronicle: "It's out of my hands but I hope we are close to some signings. We need four players minimum before the start of the season. Then we can make decisions about if we need any more or we need to move players out. Strikers are a still a big priority for us and hopefully we will have some in soon."
He added: "Nothing has changed since I said we were trying to bring in six names. We have brought two in (Ike Ugbo and Joe Williams) and we want the other four. We are not at the point where we haven't got them. But we are still looking at other players just in case. Hopefully we will get them in before the first game of the season.
"Things are moving, it just takes a long, long time. You would rather have a quick 'no' than for it to drag on. It's frustrating but there is progression so we just have to stick at it and make it happen.With loan deals it is subject to when the club wants to let them out, but if it is permanent then it is just about us agreeing terms with the player."
Heckingbottom knows that the current squad would not compete in the Championship without new recruits. He said: "It doesn't matter how much I back myself, I know we haven't got enough at the moment. I'm frustrated we haven't got the amount and quality of players I wanted, but it's an opportunity for players who weren't in the side last season to come in and impress."
