Barnsley Had Six-Figure Bid Rebuffed For £200K-Rated Defender

According to the latest reports, Barnsley had a six-figure offer for Dunfermline Athletic fullback Josh Edwards rejected in the final week of the January transfer window.

Neill Collins’ side have had a mixed bag of results in recent weeks, having failed to win their previous two league outings, although a hard-earned point away at title-chasers Bolton Wanderers last weekend was certainly positive despite going in front during the game.

The Tykes are currently sitting fifth in the League One table, ten points behind leaders Portsmouth but with two games in hand. The South Yorkshire club were quite active during the transfer market in order to bolster the squad ahead of what is a tight race for both automatic promotion and the playoff places.

The biggest loss for Barnsley was Callum Styles’ loan move to Sunderland. However, Collins’ squad was strengthened with the arrivals of Donovan Pines from DC United, Josh Earl from Fleetwood Town and Conor Grant from MK Dons.

However, it is now being reported that Barnsley made an attempt to sign another player in the final days of the winter transfer window. According to The Courier, the Reds made a six-figure offer for Dunfermline defender Edwards.

The report claims that the Scottish outfit rejected the bid from Barnsley with little hesitation, but it is unclear just how much was offered for the 23-year-old, although his market value stands at £213,000, as per Transfermarket. Furthermore, there was interest from Preston North End and Stoke City in the Championship.

Writer’s View

Earl is quite a versatile player and can be deployed in a number of positions, including as a left-back or as a centre-back. On Saturday, upon making his debut, Collins utilised the 25-year-old as the left-sided central defender in a back three.

There was a possibility that the head coach could have been planning to sign Edwards to play this role instead of Earl. However, given he has nine goal contributions in 27 appearances in all competitions, it was more likely that the young fullback would have been used out on the left as a wingback, a position he is certainly familiar with from his time in Scotland.