Analysis of Barnsley's summer transfer window after the Reds brought in two forwards on deadline day to take their total of incomings to nine.
THE FINAL evening of Barnsley’s transfer window, as so often, appeared to be make or break and – without the benefit of hindsight – it seems to have made them a much stronger squad rather than breaking the fanbase which a poor last day could have done.
There was real frustration among the supporters, and staff, about how long it took to bring in players, especially strikers, but the late additions of Stephen Humphrys and Davis Keillor-Dunn generated a lot of positivity.
They have left it late, using nearly every second of the window to get who they feel are the best players available.
They are hoping that signing their preferred targets late on will, in the long-term, offset the dropped points potentially caused by not having players in place for the first four games.
The Victor Edvardsen situation was obviously embarrassing and frustrating, but the Reds were totally blindsided by the personal decision of the Sweden striker to back out of the move after a medical – for which he has apologised.
The club deserve credit for moving on and getting two more strikers in the next day.
They did not sell any of their starting players, despite some interest in the likes of Adam Phillips and Luca Connell. The last time they did that was in 2021 and they finished bottom of the Championship, but they are more stable behind the scenes now and in a better position to capitalise on holding onto their stars.
They have made nine signings, three of them full internationals, and – although only two started their latest league game – most look likely to be regulars.
It is difficult at this stage to tell how this squad fits into a tough-looking League One – with Birmingham spending £10million on Jay Stansfield and about £30million across the window – but Barnsley certainly have the potential to finish in the top six for a third straight year.
Some very good League One players left at the end last season, including three who scored more than 40 goals between them, so it will take time to assess their replacements and how the new-look squad gels. But there is some quality in every area and depth in most.
The two obvious questions are ‘who will play left wing-back consistently?’ and ‘who will score the goals?’ They are certainly not as concerning issues as after previous windows but worth exploring.
In terms of strikers, Keillor-Dunn and Humphrys’ arrival adds depth, plenty of EFL experience, character and versatility to a front line which had looked very thin.
They will now hope to get Sam Cosgrove, Max Watters and Fabio Jalo all back from injury soon, with Aiden Marsh set to continue to be involved in the first team after some good shifts off the bench. When everyone is fit, they have six strikers with a lot of different attributes and, while there is not one obvious candidate to net 20-odd goals, they certainly have the potential between them to score the 40 Clarke wants from his front men.
When you add in that attacking midfielder Adam Phillips looks likely to be a regular scorer this season, and the Reds are a much bigger – literally and metaphorically – danger from set pieces, there are plenty of goal threats in the squad.
As for left wing-backs, Georgie Gent is the only natural player there but has been taken off early in both league starts.
He is highly-rated within Oakwell and will be eased into the team, with the right-footed Corey O’Keeffe impressing there on Saturday while Josh Earl and Kyran Lofthouse are other options, as is using a back four.
Generally in defence there are some question marks as, other than Crawley, teams have created several chances in every match and there have been some glaring individual errors.
That must be improved but Clarke knows that, he knows what he’s working with until January and has several weeks without a cup game to work hard on the training ground with his squad.
