Daniel Stendel should seal emotional Barnsley transfer for exiting Ipswich Town star | OneFootball

Barnsley will be targeting an improved season next term under Daniel Stendel, and they should eye a move for a former Tykes midfielder.

Barnsley will be looking to make a serious push for a top-six finish in League One for the 2026/27 season, under the watchful eye of a returning Daniel Stendel.

Stendel returned to Oakwell this month to succeed Conor Hourihane, and will be hoping that he can turn around Barnsley's fortunes, as they found it tough in this year's league campaign.

The Tykes finished 15th in the League One table, and will be preparing for their fourth successive year in the third tier of English football, much to the frustration of some of the club's supporters.

The days of playing in the Championship will feel a long way off, but Stendel could be the ideal manager to turn them into promotion chasers once again.

It's set to be an interesting summer transfer window ahead, as Barnsley look to strengthen their squad ahead of the 2026/27 season, which gets underway in August.

Barnsley should be plotting summer move for former favourite Conor Chaplin

One player that Barnsley should potentially look into a deal for is Ipswich Town attacking midfielder Conor Chaplin, who it's recently been announced is leaving the Tractor Boys when his contract expires this summer.

The Tractor Boys held an option to extend his contract by a further year in Suffolk, but ultimately decided to move Chaplin on ahead of the 2026/27 league campaign, having loaned him out to his former club Portsmouth for the majority of the 2025/26 season.

Chaplin had been with Ipswich since 2021, having signed for them from Barnsley for £750,000, and he proved to be a star for Town in their rise from League One to the Premier League, especially with his 26 third tier goals in the 2022-23 season.

Prior to his move to Ipswich, Chaplin scored 17 goals in 86 appearances for Barnsley whilst they were playing in the Championship, but having been in and out of Valerien Ismael's starting 11, the attacker had to drop down a level to find his game-time.

Premier League football found Chaplin's game-time more limited in 2024-25 under Kieran McKenna, which ended up leading to his return to former club Portsmouth for 2025-26, but his loan stint at Fratton Park left a lot to be desired, and a drop back to League One could end up being best for the playmaker.

Would an Oakwell return be ideal for Barnsley and Conor Chaplin?

Considering Ipswich have recently won promotion into the Premier League, it wasn't at all surprising to see them move on from Chaplin, as he would have been far down the pecking order in Kieran McKenna's plans.

And Barnsley should certainly be weighing up a move for Chaplin, as he's a player that could add much-needed creativity and quality to their attacks.

Plenty of Barnsley fans were left frustrated to see Davis Keillor-Dunn depart the club in favour of a move to Championship side Wrexham during the January transfer window, and his absence was one of the reasons why the Tykes' season fizzled out in disappointing fashion.

Keillor Dunn scored 35 goals in 78 appearances for Barnsley, and was certainly deserving of a move up the football pyramid, although his move to Wrexham hasn't been what was originally hoped for the 28-year-old, as he's yet to make a league start for Phil Parkinson's side.

Barnsley need quality in attacking areas, and Chaplin would provide them with that, and whichever strikers are on the club's books next season would benefit from having a player of his talent threading them through.

Daniel Stendel will be well-aware that reinforcements are needed during the summer transfer window, and it would be a real statement of intent if they were to target a deal for Chaplin, who he brought to the club in the first place back in 2019 in his first stint in charge in South Yorkshire.

A move as a free agent could be the ideal move for all parties involved, as Chaplin is likely to want regular game time, which is something that Barnsley could almost certainly offer him.

He's likely to be a player in demand though, especially given his experience of playing regularly in the second tier, and so Barnsley must act fast if they're to secure any agreement for Chaplin's services.