Andy Yiadom has been told to work towards earning a new Reds contract – or a January transfer – after he agonisingly missed out on a Premier League move for the second time this summer.
The 25-year-old full-back, who failed a medical at Huddersfield earlier in August, was set to join Swansea City on deadline day with a fee agreed between the clubs for January. But the Swans are understood to have submitted the paperwork a few minutes after the 11pm deadline and the move fell through.
Reds head coach Paul Heckingbottom told the Chronicle: "Yids is a big part of our team. He had the opportunity to play in the Premier League and he would have loved to have been able to do that. But it didn't happen and now he needs to get his head down and work hard. He will focus on working really hard for us and playing well for us and that will either get him a move elsewhere or a new contract with us. Swansea just missed out with the paperwork but they might not have got him anyway because Andy didn't know anything about it until the last minute."
Heckingbottom added: "I spoke to him this week and he said he was relieved that he knew where he was going to be now and he can focus on football."
Yiadom turned down a new Barnsley deal earlier in the summer but Heckingbottom has hinted that discussions could reopen. The head coach said yesterday that the club has other priorities currently with takeover negotiations still ongoing. Yiadom has not played since the opening week of the season due to the transfer speculation then a small spinal facture found during his Huddersfield medical. He is expected to miss the next three games.
