Barnsley FC winger Luke Thomas seals loan move to Ipswich Town

BARNSLEY winger Luke Thomas has completed a loan move to League One outfit Ipswich Town for the rest of the season.
Luke Thomas.Luke Thomas.
Luke Thomas.

Speculation over the future of the ex-Derby County player has been abound for the past month, with Sunderland and Oxford United linked with moves at the start of the window.

But Thomas is heading to East Anglia instead after switching to the Portman Road outfit, currently just outside of the play-off positions in League One, but with games in hand.

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Gloucestershire-born Thomas, 21, who joined the Reds in the summer of 2019, has struggled for consistency during his time with the club.

He has made 19 league appearances for the Oakwell outfit this term, with 12 arriving from the bench.

In 11 matches since the beginning of December, Thomas has started just twice.

The futures of the club's squad players is Barnsley's current priority in the window after the Reds completed two pieces of incoming business early after bringing in forward Carlton Morris from Norwich City and Forest Green defender Liam Kitching.

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At the start of January, head coach Valerien Ismael spoke about a number of players being unhappy at their lack of game time and said that he expected ‘movement in both directions’ this month.

Elliot Simoes has since linked up with Doncaster Rovers for the rest of the campaign on loan and now Thomas - who is contracted at the club until the summer of 2023 - has joined another League One high-flier in Ipswich.

Thomas was under the age of 21 at the start of last year so therefore will not count towards Ipswich's salary cap, which is £2.5m on player expenses per season due to their status as a League One club.

Several other Barnsley players including Patrick Schmidt, Clark Oduor and Brad Collins have struggled for action on a consistent basis this term, with midfielder Isaac Christie-Davies yet to make his bow since arriving from Liverpool.

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Young midfielder Matty Wolfe is scheduled to remain at National League outfit Notts County for the rest of the season following a loan extension, while earlier this week, Academy forward Dan Bramall linked up with League Two outfit Barrow for the remainder of the campaign, with Ismael confirming he is unlikely to be involved in his first-team plans in 2020-21.

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