Barnsley closing in on Standard Liege’s Belgian Under-21s international striker Obbi Oulare

Obbi Oulare, a former Belgium under-21 international who also represented his country at youth level, was on Watford’s books from 2015 to 2019, but played just three times for the Hertfordshire outfit.

The forward started his senior career in Belgium with Club Brugges and scored nine goals in 39 games in all competitions before moving to England.

During his time at Vicarage Road, Oulare was loaned out to Zulte Waregem, Willem II, Royal Antwerp and Standard Liege.

He subsequently joined Liege on a full-time basis, but featured just 12 times at league level last term, scoring twice.

Barnsley have made just one incoming signing so far this summer, bringing in former loanee Devante Cole, who has joined the club after a spell at Motherwell.

BARNSLEY co-chairman Paul Conway is confident that the appointment of Khaled El-Ahmad as the Reds’ new chief executive officer will broaden the club’s recruitment base to bring in players from across the globe.

El-Ahmad has joined the club from City Football Group (CFG), where he has been in his position since 2016 and will become the first Swedish CEO within British football following a period of transition.

He will replace Dane Murphy, who has joined Nottingham Forest.

CFG owns a number of football-related businesses in major cities around the world, including football clubs, academies, technical support and marketing companies.

Since graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a Master’s Degree in business administration and management in 2005, El-Ahmad has worked in a number of senior football and business positions across the continent, including director of Concacaf at CFG, chief scout at Swedish outfit Djurgårdens AB, analyst at Aalborg-based AaB and as CEO with a number of startup companies.

Co-chairman Conway said: “We are very excited to welcome Khaled to Barnsley as our chief executive officer. Khaled has an incredible and diverse background in football and will immediately enhance Barnsley’s overall management, recruiting, academy and commercial operations.

“We consider Barnsley to be one of the best evaluators of young talent in the Sky Bet Championship but it is also important for us as a club to evolve our recruiting to other parts of the world including North America, South America and Scandinavia, all areas of expertise of Khaled.

“Furthermore, we need to further improve our commercial operations and enhance our academy, both areas of expertise of Khaled.

“We look forward to the upcoming season in the Sky Bet Championship and once again want to thank our supporters for their unwavering support.“