TYING down key men to longer contracts, monitoring the free agent market without being ‘desperate’ to sign another forward, and resolving Kelechi Nwakali’s future are some of the tasks now for Barnsley sporting director Mladen Sormaz after the summer transfer window closed last week.

The Reds signed eight players in the window, with the last being defender Jake Rooney on deadline day, while they kept hold of star players such as Keillor-Dunn, Phillips and Connell despite ‘multiple bids’ for all three.

Players in Conor Hourihane’s squad who are out of contract next summer include Jon Russell, Marc Roberts, Tennai Watson and David McGoldrick.

The contracts of Phillips, Jack Shepherd and Mael de Gevigney also expire at the end of the season but the Reds have an option to keep them all for an extra year.

There was interest in the likes of Phillips as well as captain Luca Connell and top-scorer Davis Keillor-Dunn – who are both contracted until 2028 including club options – from other clubs this summer with the Reds turning down ‘multiple bids’ for all three.

Barnsley are now expected to begin negotiations with their star players.

Sormaz told the Chronicle: “There will be a few knocks on the door.

“I have already spoken to Conor and the board to be prepared for that and we’ll look to move as quick as we can.

“Over the last year it was more the younger players but we’ve looked to lock people down at good times.

“I think we’ll look to do that going forward and hopefully that reassures the fanbase. What I can say is that a lot of players are happy here right now and buying into the longer-term vision here.

“We can hopefully capitalise on that.

“We will look at improving deals but more to lock them in (for longer) to show commitment to them and give them peace of mind.

“It makes everything around the club better, helps us attract players, it’s clear everyone is committed and you don’t have questions of ‘is that guy leaving next summer’?”

Former loan star John McAtee almost rejoined Barnsley on transfer deadline from Bolton Wanderers but a deal could not be finalised.

Sormaz said: “Most things were agreed.

“There was one clause we needed in there to protect ourselves.

“Bolton wanted it more weighted towards them, he’s their player and I respect that. We wanted it more equal.

“That couldn’t be overcome.

“I can’t say what that was out of respect for them. On certain stuff, we can’t be flexible.”

Could the Reds revisit that deal in January?

Sormaz said: “We will see. We have quite a lot of games before then so I think it would depend. I think that was maybe a perceived need for now but we’ll see as we go through the season.”

Barnsley are keeping an eye on strikers in the free agent market, having missed out on bolstering their forward options on deadline day.

Sormaz said: “The market is alright but we’re not desperate to get a body through the door.

“There is quite a high bar.

“If the right one came along, we’d probably bring him in, trial him for a bit and, if Conor was keen and if everyone thought it would balance the squad, we’d do it.

“But we’re not looking to get bodies in just for the sake of it in that position.”

Other than possibly modest loan fees, Barnsley did not pay any money for any of their signings this season as they operated on an apparently smaller budget.

Sormaz said: “Unless there were any really big sales, it was only going to be free transfers and loans.

“We did quite a lot of our business earlier in the window and that was because Conor was looped in at all times.

“We weren’t promising ‘wait until August, there will be more money to spend’.

“We were pretty open early on that there would be constraints.”

Will that be the same for next few windows?

Sormaz said: “I honestly don’t know.

“Rebalancing this summer was massive for the board. Going forward it will be their decision window by window.

“I do know that, in general over the next two to three years, we need to get the pipeline going again with big-ish sales to reinvest into high potential talent.

“In January, the position in the table has to be factored in, also squad injuries and Conor’s assessment after having six months under his belt.”