A deal by deal look at Barnsley's transfer business during the summer window.
INCOMINGS
CONOR HOURIHANE
Some of the negativity from the disappointing way last season ended disappeared when one of the most popular players in recent decades returned as the first summer signing.
It was quite a different start to the last two summers in which the first piece of business was Jamie Searle then Kacper Lopata respectively.
The former promotion-winning captain made it clear in his first interview that the second part of his player/coach title was to be more heavily emphasised than his role as midfielder as he looks to launch a coaching career.
After impressing in pre-season, he came on in the opening game and started against Northampton due to an injury to Matty Craig – looking fairly rusty in both.
He has been praised for the work he is doing in training with individuals and on attacking set pieces.
MARC ROBERTS
The centre-back’s return to his hometown club, not long after ex team-mate Hourihane, completed the first phase of Barnsley’s summer plans. The Reds had looked to bring in the experience lacking last season and energise the fanbase – plus they have been good performers at a higher level.
The Penistone man had been a regular starter, scoring the winner at Lincoln, but was dropped on Saturday with competition for places in the back three very hot.
Roberts’ presence in the dressing room, passion for the club and popularity with fans will be important through the season, as he looks a for second promotion with the Reds. He has made a few errors so far after barely playing last season with Birmingham.
JACKSON SMITH
The goalkeeper signed a four-year contract after turning down a new deal with League Two Walsall.
He is allegedly seen as the long-term number one but there was always a chance he would be loaned out for this season, and Clarke said he ‘struggled’ slightly in training early on. He has since been working hard in the gym to become more athletic.
Smith has been third choice behind fellow new signing Gabriel Slonina and Ben Killip. He did not move in the window and the only markets he can now go into are non-league or overseas.
MATTY CRAIG
The defensive midfielder, on loan from Tottenham, already has had success in Yorkshire – making his Spurs debut in the Premier League at Leeds then starring on loan for Doncaster last season as they went from a relegation battle to the play-offs in League Two. The 21-year-old arrives very highly-rated and brings something different, an ability to break up play in midfield and transition which they sometimes lacked last season.
After a mixed start to the season, he came back from injury on Saturday and helped to dismantle Crawley.
GEORGIE GENT
The 20-year-old left wing-back joined from Blackburn on a three-year deal with the option for one more in the club’s favour.
He was taken off after 25 minutes on the opening night against Mansfield then at half-time in the next home league game, with Clarke choosing to switch from 3-5-2 to a back four and sacrificing Gent. Right-footed Corey O’Keeffe and Kyran Lofthouse have played on the left as has centre-back Josh Earl.
Gent is the only natural left-back in the senior squad but is being eased into English football after impressing in Scotland with Motherwell on loan last season.
KELECHI NWAKALI
The Nigerian midfielder joined on a three-year deal from Chaves last month but is yet to play after a wait for his visa to be approved while he is behind on fitness after not having a full pre-season.
He has good pedigree, having come through the Arsenal youth system, played in the top flights in Spain, Netherlands and Portugal – while also being named player of the tournament at an Under 17s World Cup, which he won, before winning four senior caps.
Nwakali, 26, is seen as a potential replacement for Herbie Kane – a technical midfielder with the ability to open up opponents. He has been an unused substitute for the last two games and played an hour for the under 21s in midweek, appearing to be slightly rusty but also having some good moments.
GABRIEL SLONINA
Barnsley have potentially benefitted from Chelsea having an abnormally high number of goalkeepers, in double figures, and needing to loan several out.
A US international signed for the Blues for £10million and seems like a coup for a League One club. He enjoyed an excellent debut in the EFL Cup at Wigan, saving two penalties in the shoot-out win, and has made several other top stops so far, balanced out by a costly mistake against Northampton.
The 20-year-old has been caught up in the Pines love-in and is also a recipient of the ‘USA!’ chants from fans.
His kicking needs some work but he is a superb shot-stopper and, in general, has commanded his box well so far.
He and Craig are the ‘elite loans’ Barnsley wanted.
DAVIS KEILLOR-DUNN
The deal that had dragged on for much of the transfer window was finally confirmed 15 minutes before the deadline.
The attacker nearly joined before the season started but the move was complicated by his former club Mansfield visiting in the opening game of the season, in which he played.
There was then a stand-off on the asking price, during which he played regularly for the Stags and scored in the cup at Bolton, before a later bid was accepted on deadline day – leaving the Reds with a frantic few hours to complete the deal.
Keillor-Dunn’s 22 goals and ten assists in a promotion side in League Two last season mark him out as the kind of player many fans want the Reds to be signing.
He has often played in attacking midfield but could also be used up front, in a similar move to John McAtee last season.
There is also the option to play both him and Adam Phillips as number tens.
STEPHEN HUMPHRYS
The free agent was the first of the two deadline day signings, having left Wigan at the end of last season.
He impressed against the Reds last season for Wigan, giving Nicky Cadden a torrid time before an early red card for his team in a 2-0 home loss last year.
The 26-year-old, who signed a one-year deal with a further year’s option, is known for his physicality, nuisance qualities and ability to run at defenders.
He netted 11 goals last season and has scored 43 in 182 League One games – a reasonable if not spectacular record.
Having left Bury as a 16-year-old for Fulham, where he barely played, he had a season each at Southend and Rochdale before spending three years with the Latics. He helped them to promotion out of League One in 2022 then, when they were in the Championship, was loaned out to Scottish club Hearts.
Humphrys can also play on the wing which adds to the options Clarke has for formations.
OUTGOINGS
CALLUM STYLES
The years-long saga of the Hungary international’s possible exit finally came to an end when he joined West Bromwich Albion.
It is best for all parties. By all accounts he was professional behind the scenes, and did not lack work-rate in games, but certainly the drive and verve of his first few years at Oakwell had been missing, while the relationship with the fans soured badly.
Styles should also be remembered for his relegation-saving tackle against Nottingham Forest in 2020, his goal at Brentford days later, and a series of stunning strikes and excellent performances under Valerien Ismael when he looked set for a top level career.
But he dipped like everyone else in the relegation season then has since been looking to leave, loaned out to second tier Millwall then Sunderland without excelling.
Styles’ Barnsley career is one of the oddest ever, full of contradictions which make little sense. He helped Hungary – who discovered him through his Reds performances and interviews – to the European Championships but never shone in League One.
He was better at left wing-back than his preferred central midfield while nearly all his best performances for the club were behind-closed-doors during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Reds are thought to be very happy with the fee received, even if it is short of the £2million release clause in his contract which was due to expire next summer. He joins former Barnsley team-mates Devante Cole, Alex Mowatt and Daryl Dike at the Baggies.
Styles came off the bench in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Swansea.
OLI SHAW AND ANDY DALLAS
Barnsley appear to have moved on, in terms of their recruitment of strikers, from signing players who have impressed at lower levels and tick boxes in terms of data but often turn out to be short of League One standard.
The Scottish strikers joined other clubs this summer, having barely featured following their signings in 2023 and been loaned out last season as well.
Shaw – who never started a league game for the Reds – joined Scottish second tier club Hamilton Academicals permanently, then has netted four goals already including a brace on Saturday.
He ended a 40-game goal drought across two years, although most were in cameos off the bench whereas he is now starting.
Dallas, who is contracted until 2026, has been loaned out to League Two Barrow, his sixth club in 18 months.
He is yet to start in the league, coming off the bench four times and often after 85 minutes.
He scored in the EFL Trophy against Bolton on Tuesday, ending a 38-game goalless run.
KACPER LOPATA AND JACK SHEPHERD
The two 23-year-old centre-backs have been sent on loan for the season.
Lopata, who is contracted until 2027, captained the Reds in the EFL Trophy and came on in the EFL Cup. He can only really play the middle position in a back three so, with Marc Roberts and Donovan Pines ahead of him, was likely to barely feature in the league. He has been loaned out to Scottish top flight side Ross County and made his full debut on Saturday then was taken off before Aberdeen scored the only goal in the 98th-minute.
Shepherd signed a new two-year deal with the Reds this summer, with the option for a third, then was loaned out to League Two Bradford City. He is yet to start in the league, coming off the bench twice – including on Saturday – and starting in the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy.
