“He confuses me” – Barnsley FC concern raised as Davis Keillor-Dunn exit fear is mooted..
This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Barnsley FC supporters face an anxious summer transfer window after chairman Neerav Parekh recently confirmed that player sales will be necessary to balance the books ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
The Tykes, who finished 10th in League One this season, seven points adrift of the play-off places, appear set to adopt a selling strategy once again, despite Parekh’s seemingly contradictory promise of maintaining a “competitive budget” for next season.
This mixed messaging has left some fans confused about the club’s direction, with our FLW Fan Pundit Andy Symcox expressing his concerns about the potential departures of key players who have been instrumental at Oakwell.
Neerav Parekh’s financial stance on Barnsley FC is confusing
With the summer transfer window approaching, Andy believes there’s confusion surrounding the club’s financial position given the number of players already departing.
“I know that Neerav has said that we will need to get back to our previous strategy of selling players in order to balance the books, but he confuses me somewhat in the way I’ve been told also that we will have a competitive budget for next season,” Andy explained.
“Three players have gone back to their parent clubs from this year’s squad, we’ve released seven academy players and fifteen players whose contracts have come to an end. So it’s an awful lot of players, including players such as Josh Benson, who would’ve been a high earner, so I’m a little confused as to why we’d need to sell in order to balance some of the books.
Barnsley’s Conor Hourihane
The uncertainty comes at a critical time for Barnsley, with head coach Conor Hourihane needing to build a competitive squad for the upcoming season. Parekh has indicated there has been “a lot of inbound interest” for various positions at the club, but fans will be hoping this doesn’t include too many bids for their most valuable playing assets.
Key players could depart Barnsley FC this summer
When asked which stars he expects might leave Oakwell this summer, Andy provided a detailed assessment of the situation facing several key players.
“If that is the case, I don’t see that in the summer Fabio Jalo will attract any interest as he is currently injured and is likely to be out for quite a long while. The others that people are obviously talking about are Luca Connell, Adam Phillips and Davis Keillor-Dunn.
“Davis Keillor-Dunn is obviously our top scorer, he’s the one that most people think may well be leaving, hopefully for a lot of money. Personally, I hope that is not the case, otherwise there is little point in having someone who’s been with us for approximately – well he’s been with us since the start of October.
Davis Keillor-Dunn League One stats 2024/25, as per FotMob
Stats
Value
Goals
18
Assists
7
Matches Started
45
Matches Played
45
Minutes Played
3,800
Yellow Cards
3
Red Cards
0
“As far as Adam Phillips concerned and Luca Connell is concerned, there’s always speculation every year that they’re leaving and maybe this is the year that one or both of them do leave. Personally I hope that neither of them leave, we definitely need to bolster our attack and our defence, although we do now have Jack Shepard and Kacper Lopata returning who hopefully will play a part in next season’s squad.
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“Particularly for me Jack Shepard, but I would be amazed if Bradford City or other clubs do not want to buy him, as he was one of their better players in getting promoted to League One last season. Time will tell.”
With a significant turnover of players already confirmed and the chairman’s admission about the need for sales, Barnsley supporters could be in for a summer of significant change at Oakwell as the club attempts to balance financial sustainability with ambitions of getting back to the Championship.
Davis Keillor-Dunn ‘gamble’ admission from Barnsley FC sporting director Mladen Sormaz
Leon Wobschall
By Leon Wobschall
Football Writer
Published 22nd May 2025, 08:00 BST
IT’S fair to say that when it came to the 2024 summer transfer window, Barnsley saved the best piece of business until last.
It proved their most high-profile – and ultimately successful – transaction with patience proving a virtue as Davis Keillor-Dunn signed on the dotted line, in the nick of time, on deadline day.
An impressive haul of 19 goals in his maiden season at Oakwell proved that it was a significant amount of money pretty well spent regarding the 27-year-old, whom the Reds will be particularly anxious to keep this summer.
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The success of the move also justified Barnsley’s belief that patience would prove a virtue in their pursuit of the Wearsider, a target throughout the summer.
Barnsley’s Davis Keillor-Dunn.
Barnsley’s Davis Keillor-Dunn.
It represented a ‘gamble’ according to sporting director Mladen Sormaz, but it paid off.
When it comes to cash signings for decent amounts of money, a holding of nerve can come into play, but it can also be a delicate balance.
“The difficult thing at some teams sometimes is the gamble. Do you hold out?” said Sormaz.
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“For example, the biggest hold-out last year was for Davis as we knew what that situation was. I look at the guys who might have moved on earlier and am quite relieved we waited.
York City’s Ashley Nathaniel-George takes on Oldham loanee Vimal Yoganathan on Tuesday night. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe
York City’s Ashley Nathaniel-George takes on Oldham loanee Vimal Yoganathan on Tuesday night. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe
“I get it can be frustrating and we don’t look to do it in every single case. But sometimes, it’s worth knowing there are deals there already ready in terms of operations and deals on the table where we have just decide when we are pulling that trigger.”
While Barnsley players take a break before reconvening for pre-season in high summer, one individual very much still actively involved in the 2024-25 campaign is midfielder Vimal Yoganathan, who has been busy making a name for himself on loan at Oldham Athletic.
After impressing in the eliminator play-off win over FC Halifax Town, the 19-year-old excelled in Tuesday’s semi-final success at York City, setting up the Latics’ opener and firing in the second as the visitors booked a Wembley finals berth on June 1.
Yoganathan moved across the Pennines in January for the remainder of the 24-25 season, shortly after the Wales under-19 player penned a new deal.
The ex-Liverpool academy product signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract at Oakwell until June 2028, with a club option to extend the deal by a further year.
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