Barnsley sporting director on turning down 'multiple offers' for star trio, John McAtee and Josh Koroma

All three – who have started the 2025-26 season in impressive fashion – remain at Oakwell and while there were frustrations among fans that the club missed out on signing a striker at the end of the window to add to their forward options, Sormaz believes that the retention of the aforesaid players is highly significant.

He said: “We had multiple offers for all three of those (in the summer window) and rejected them, which I think shows a commitment to keeping hold of our best players.

"I know originally, from what the chairman (Neerav Parekh) said back in April, it seemed like they were going to go, regardless.

"But it was never the case and we were never going to let them go below what we think they are valued at.

"The biggest bonus since Conor (Hourihane) has come in and the way he has got them playing, the style of football and playing to all of their strengths, (means) I think a few of them are quite a bit happier to stay here.

"And they see that if they were to go to a bottom or mid-range Championship (team) or even other top-end League One clubs, are they going to get to play in a style of football which is attractive and plays to their strengths this much?

"I think all that happiness is genuine from them and it massively lifts the mood around the place and it all stems from the way Conor and the staff have got them working on the pitch.”

Sormaz says that loaning out of several players also helped provide an element of ‘protection’ in regard to Barnsley managing to keep Keillor-Dunn, Connell and Phillips and not have to sell any one of them from a financial perspective.

Max Watters, Corey O’Keeffe, Barry Cotter, Kacper Lopata and Andrew Dallas all left the club on season-long loans in the summer.

Sormaz added: "As the window wore on, it became clear to us that it was unlikely anyone was going to meet those valuations (for the aforesaid trio).

"On that basis, the players who we brought in and some of the ones we maybe had to loan out, we thought we could trim from other areas and protect our biggest assets and let some other players go out and then balance it that way.”

Barnsley made a deadline-day move to bring in former striker John McAtee from Bolton Wanderers on a season-long loan, but the terms of the deal ensured that it couldn’t be completed.

Sormaz said: "We explored it very early (in the summer). I have got a very good relationship with Fergal Harkin who is the sporting director over there. As he was joining the club, I said: ‘What are your plans with Macca?’ This was before the window was open.

"He wasn’t sure at the time and wanted to see with his head coach and when the summer started, he said there could be half a chance depending on their ‘ins’.

"Then, in the end, the reason he (McAtee) came up was because of a couple of loans they did towards the end of the window.

“It came lively (late on), but we’d explored it much earlier than that. That time pressure at the end came from Bolton’s end and when they got their player in rather than us ourselves. We explored it very early on and had it as a back-up option if it needed.”

Earlier in the window, the Reds saw two other forward targets in Josh Koroma and Dom Ballard move to Leyton Orient, with Sormaz indicating that financial constraints ensured that they ultimately went there instead of Barnsley.

He said: "The chairman has made it very clear that we were working under constraints.

"It is the nature of competing for players in this league that (with) some, you will be able to get (them) within your financial remit, others you won’t. “It’s one that Conor (Hourihane) understands and he was kept in the loop on the negotiation process on both of those as well.

"Whoever you lose out to, it’s always frustrating. Whether it’s a much richer club or one similar to yourselves in the league. But we know what those limits are, so we just have to work around them.”