Barnsley are approaching the final stages of four more transfers as Paul Heckingbottom looks to get the majority of his squad for next season in place before pre-season begins on June 26.

The Reds have announced St Mirren midfielder Stevie Mallan as their first recruit of the summer, and they are in a strong position to complete four other deals pending final negotiations and the conclusion of the play-offs which some of them are involved in.

Heckingbottom told the Chronicle: "There are plenty of players who we have been discussing and we are at a point where we are ready to go with them but the hardest bit is getting deals over the line. There has been work ongoing all season. The easy bit is getting your list of targets and your plan of attack, but the hard bit is getting the deal done."

Barnsley have also been heavily linked with Conor McLaughlin – brother of ex-Red Ryan – who is a free agent as his contract with League One play-off semi-final losers Fleetwood Town ends next month. But, although he is on the Reds' radar, the Northern Ireland right-back is not thought to be one of the players close to signing a deal at Oakwell. Heckingbottom said: "I know all about Conor and have done for a long time. He's been excellent at Fleetwood. But he's probably been attracting attention from a few clubs because he's out of contract."

Heckingbottom has said that the Reds will need to sign at least ten new players this summer. He would like to have most of them in place by the time pre-season begins in 38 days. He said: "It is really important to me to get most of our work done before pre-season starts. "It's going to be difficult but I want to do it.

"There will be lots of players we go for who aren't on other people's radars but lots that are.  It's how quick and positive we are in identifying them, persuading them and discussing money with them but also it's down to the player making a decision and how long we wait until we move on to the next one.

"We may not get our first targets so we move onto the next and the next and the next. It is a 24/7 job trying to drive it and keep things going. You always have to be ready to make a decision.

"In an ideal world I would have all of the deals done by June 26 but in reality that won't happen. Loans are more difficult because the calibre of player we want will be in and around first team squads and their clubs won't let them go until later in the window. We have to recruit, recruit, recruit to get as good a squad as we can then add some loans.

"It's going to be a brand new team. "If you look at the signings we made last season, not a lot of them played at the start because they weren't ready because of the jump up in standards.  It's no secret that we will be signing players from the lower leagues again and the longer we have with them the better.  We can't be starting the season cold and playing catch up."

Heckingbottom has previously said he wants to keep all of his contracted stars – such as captain Marc Roberts who is regularly linked with moves to other clubs – but he has admitted that there may be offers too good to turn down for the club that sold several players in January.

The Reds head coach said there have been no bids for any player so far but added: "We have to brace ourselves for bids. We know we have got good players who are attracting attention.  Then it will be a case of the club looking at the offer and deciding what to do next."

Heckingbottom is almost resigned to losing out-of-contract pair Marley Watkins and Josh Scowen who have been offered new deals but are understood to have several other options. Watkins has said he has played his last game for the Reds and looks set to join their Championship rivals Norwich City.

The Reds boss said: "We have to be in contact with them because we need to know if it is a yes or no. But, having spoken to them, I think it will be difficult for us to keep them.  They think they can get more money elsewhere and they probably can. Pretty much every club in the league could give them more money than we can."

The Reds are hopeful that under 23s captain Jared Bird will sign a new contract in the next few days, while four of this year's under 18s are expected to pen their first professional deals.