The 26-year-old could swap Barnsley for Burnley in the summer.
After a relentless January, Barnsley’s hopes of settling down in the summer appear to be over already. The Sun claims that Burnley are tracking the progress of centre-back Marc Roberts, meaning that the Tykes could lose yet another of their key first-team players at the end of the season.
The 26-year-old arrived at Oakwell from non-league Halifax Town in 2015 and has continued to advance beyond all expectations, comfortably making the step up to League One, then the Championship before inheriting the captain’s armband following Conor Hourihane’s January exit to Aston Villa.
However, it seems as if the 26-year-old could yet make it three individual promotions in three years with the Premier League beckoning for one of the second-tier’s most consistent defenders.
The Sun reports that high-flying Burnley, who have made great use of their limited funds in the transfer market to bring in the likes of Robbie Brady (below) and Steven Defour, have identified Roberts as the ideal addition to a back line that may well be shorn of Michael Keane next season.
The publication adds that the Clarets have sent scout Martin Hodge to watch Barnsley’s games on a number of occasions and the feedback has no doubt been extremely positive.
Yet with Hourihane, James Bree, Alfie Mawson and Sam Winnall all leaving the club since the start of last summer, it seems Barnsley will continue to pay the price for success.
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