Barnsley head coach Neill Collins has emphasised that the only way he’ll part company with Devante Cole this January is if Championship clubs are ready to pay big money for the striker.
Cole has been immense for the Tykes this season, providing 12 goals in League One, a tally which only Alfie May, Jordan Rhodes and Jamie Reid can better. Those goals have played a huge part in getting Barnsley in touching distance of the play-offs, with Collins’ men currently sat in seventh.
With at least one game in hand on all of the teams above them bar Derby and Bolton, the Tykes are well in the hunt for a place in the play-offs, and Cole’s goalscoring prowess has certainly lifted them towards the play-off positions.
However due to his red-hot form, Cole has become the subject of interest of plenty of Championship clubs and rightly so given his goalscoring ability.
At 28-years-of-age, Cole, the son of former England striker Andy Cole, is coming into his prime years and he has greatly progressed in the last two seasons, returning his best ever goalscoring figures in that spell.
The striker now seems ready for a step-up to the Championship and with just six months left on his contract, Barnsley may choose to sell so that their talisman can not walk on a free in the summer.
Head coach Neill Collins has however stated in an interview with the Yorkshire Post that there is a hefty price tag on Cole and he is not willing to let his star man go for anything less.
“I get the impression that this is the start of many questions like this and I hope Devante goes on to score a lot more goals between now and then and that will mean I am asked even more.
“But ultimately, I think it would take a serious sum of money, regardless of the contract situation for us to part with Devante with what we are trying to achieve this season.
“He is an integral part in that and it’s just something we will have to deal with, but I am convinced that Devante will continue to score goals for Barnsley and do his best and whatever comes between now and the end of the season, we will deal with.”
Tykes fans will be hoping that the announcement of a new contract would do the business in securing Cole for the future, however a contract to keep him at the club past the summer is yet to be agreed,
Writer’s View
For Christmas, many Tykes fans will be asking for Cole to sign a new contract. The striker has shown his worth over the last two years and is one of the best finishers in the division currently.
Barnsley would probably struggle without the 28-year-old and that can be seen through Collins’ reluctance to part ways. That being said, if they are after promotion this season, Barnsley must keep hold of Cole at all costs as he is their main source of goals, something which Neill Collins seems likely to already know.
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