New chief executive Gauthier Ganaye can help Barnsley with the plans they already had to sign players from France and other foreign countries, says head coach Paul Heckingbottom.
Frenchman Ganaye began his role at Oakwell on Monday, after joining from French second tier club RC Lens.He has previously said that one of his main assets is a network of foreign contacts that will provide Barnsley with the option to recruit from overseas.
Heckingbottom has mainly brought in players from the lower leagues in England but he did sign former Paris St Germain man Sessi D'Almeida after he was brought over for a trial last summer. The head coach says the Reds were already looking to make overseas transfers but adds that the arrival of Ganaye will accelerate that process.
Heckingbottom told the Chronicle: "We have got really good knowledge of our domestic leagues, especially within the bracket of player we are trying to sign. But you can't just keep finding them time after time after time. And there are some in the lower leagues who are out of our price range.
"We have to look abroad for players, but we won't just bring foreign players in because they are cheaper. They have to be good enough and the right type of player for us.
"Signing players from abroad was something we were already looking at last season, and Gauthier can only add to that.He knows all the contacts in France, which is an area we have been looking at."
Heckingbottom is delighted to have a chief executive in place, after a five-month wait for a replacement for Linton Brown who left in January. He is looking forward to working with Ganaye. Heckingbottom said: "We have been on the phone a lot in the last few days"It's a baptism of fire for him, jumping straight in. We have had good chats leading up to him coming in and I am looking forward to working with him. He definitely brings a different dynamic to the club. We will be looking to tap into new things he can bring to the club.
"He's been great so far. He understands the identity of the club and he understands my thoughts which is very important. At first when we met, I was just listening to his thoughts for the club and he was more or less saying the things I was going to say, which is great.
"It's going to be like building a new relationship again, sussing each other's strength and weaknesses out and filling the gaps for each other. That's how close you have got to be. Hopefully we can get busy in this transfer window and get some players over the line."
