‘Numerous offers’ of new contracts have been made to Barnsley’s promotion stars while all of the money gained from going back to the Championship will be invested back into the playing squad, says co-owner Paul Conway.
The American businessman, who has been acting chief executive since the departure of Gauthier Ganaye in January, suggested that stars such as Ethan Pinnock and Liam Lindsay have been offered longer deals.
He told the Chronicle: “We want to keep players as long as possible. We have put out numerous extension offers to our squad and we hope to have some good news in the coming weeks. The goal is to keep the team together.
"We have always believed the core of this team is a Championship squad and we have the youngest squad in the first three divisions in England. Our belief is that, as players continue to develop, the squad will continue to succeed.
“We are trying to bring players in on much longer-term contracts than in the last four or five years. We want to bring revenue into the club and, when we once in a while sell a player, we will reinvest that. But it’s all about taking the team to a new level.”
Barnsley’s revenue will be increased by returning to the second tier, with a boost in television money, attendances and contributions from the league. Conway said: “Getting promoted gives us another five or six millions pounds of revenue. We intend to spend all of that on the squad. But it also allows us to bring in players from places like Germany who Daniel and I and the recruitment team wanted to bring in but it was a little bit harder in League One.”
Conway said that a new chief executive would be appointed ‘in the next couple of months’ and added that a deal to buy the council’s half of Oakwell and the surrounding land was ‘in process’ but could not put a timeframe on it. He was also keen to praise head coach Daniel Stendel who is halfway through his two-year contract.
“Daniel has been fantastic, he’s re-energised the squad and helped in their development. You have seen some players who struggled a bit last season step up to a much higher level under Daniel. We want Daniel to stay for a long time and we’ll talk to him about that when he’s ready.”
Stendel was appointed with the aim of promotion and Conway is thrilled that he has delivered it. He said: “The goal this season was automatic promotion and, through a lot of hard work by everyone in the organisation, we were able to achieve it.
“It was all about getting back to the Championship where we belong. We view the club’s home as the Championship. Now it’s about strengthening that squad and growing our revenue so we can work our way up the Championship table step by step.
“In the Championship, we are opened up to a wider group of fans. We have a great product on the field which we hope will turn the casual fans into diehard fans.”
