Barnsley FC feel they are in a better position to compete for the best players in the Championship than they have been for years, despite having one of the lowest budgets in the division.
Only newly-promoted Yeovil are thought to have less money to spend on players than the Reds but manager David Flitcroft and the board have been successful in their recruitment so far this summer by getting all seven of their out-of-contract players to sign the new deals they were offered and bringing in Chris O'Grady and Dale Jennings on two and three-year deals respectively for six figures fees.
Financial Pair Play – which means clubs cannot spend more than 100 per cent of their turnover on wages or have debts of more than £5million – will not come into full effect, with financial sanctions for breaking the rules, for two years but the Reds feel that it is already benefiting them. Clubs such as Leicester City, who have rich wealthy owners, are reluctant to offer players multi-year deals whereas Barnsley are well within the rules of FFP so can hand out longer contracts such as the ones that persuaded Jennings and O'Grady to turn down far more money from other clubs and come to Oakwell.
Senior figures at Barnsley now believe that they will be able to compete for a higher calibre of player than in recent seasons when they have signed players from the lower leagues and missed out on Championship regulars to other clubs.
Flitcroft said: "Financial Fair Play is coming, there's no doubt about that. There will be a different wave of players out of contract. Clubs are starting to want shift players on and cut their squad size. We are in a good position and we can afford to wait until August to bring others in."
Chief executive Ben Mansford said: "Last season you saw clubs like Leicester and Cardiff spending a lot of money to get promotion because they knew that Financial Fair Play was coming and because there is a massive new TV deal for the Premier League clubs this year. There are ways that clubs can get round Financial Fair Play by having an owner who sponsors the shirt or the stadium but it is definitely a very good idea and should benefit Barnsley."
