BARNSLEY have until Saturday’s deadline to release their retained list.
Final discussions over deals and conversations to make players aware of the club’s decision were still taking place as of Thursday.
The Reds have options to extend the deals of Jack Shepherd, Mael de Gevigney and Adam Phillips by a further year.
Out of contract with no option are David McGoldrick, Eoghan O’Connell, Tennai Watson and Marc Roberts plus a series of under 21s and under 18s.
The Reds are hoping to retain top-scorer McGoldrick – who has interest from other clubs after netting 18 goals in the season that has just ended – while Watson and Roberts appear likely to be released. Max Watters, Andy Dallas and Jon Russell, who have all been loaned out this season, are all out of contract and expected to be released.
Tom Bradshaw, Scott Banks, Owen Goodman, Nathanael Ogbeta and Tawanda Chirewa were all on loan.
Most are not expected to return although it is unclear as yet whether the Reds will attempt to re-sign Bradshaw who is now a free agent.
De Gevigney has played 128 Barnsley games since signing in 2023.
The 26-year-old French defender barely started for most of this season before breaking back into the side in the final months and impressing.
Shepherd, 25, joined the Reds in 2023 from eighth-tier Pontefract and has played 60 times. Having helped loan club Bradford to promotion from League Two last season, he was a regular for the Reds before a series of mistakes saw him dropped from the side for some of the final months.
Midfielder Phillips, 28, has scored 43 goals in 182 games since joining Barnsley in 2022 – becoming the first player to reach double figures for four straight seasons for the Reds since Neil Redfearn in the 1990s.
Centre-back Roberts, from Penistone, returned for a second spell at his hometown club in 2024 having helped them to promotion in 2016 before spending seven years with Birmingham.
The 35-year-old started just 12 league games in the 2025/26 season.
Right-back Watson, who joined on a one-year contract in August, played 44 games for the Reds but only started two of the last 14.
Irishman O’Connell, 30, joined in January on a short-term deal and was almost an ever-present at centre-back.
Striker Watters, 27, signed permanently in 2023 after a loan spell and scored 14 goals in 84 games before being loaned to Dundee United. He has five goals in 31 games for the Scottish top flight club – who complete their season on Saturday – but only one in 26 since August.
The Reds have an option to increase his contract by a further year.
Striker Dallas, 26, also joined in 2023 and played five times – scoring a diving header on debut in the 7-0 win over Port Vale – but was sent out later that month for the first five loan spells. He has been loaned out to National League Southend this season, netting 17 goals.
Midfielder Russell, 25, played 113 games for Barnsley after signing in January 2023, scoring 19 goals.
Having not started this season in the league, the Jamaica international was loaned out in January to fellow League One club Mansfield Town where he helped them finish strongly and scored five goals.
