Valerien Ismael’s impending move to West Brom is hardly the end of the world for Barnsley but losing their captain Alex Mowatt too?
Those hardy Yorkshiremen came back stronger after bidding farewell to Daniel Stendel and Gerhard Struber. And, if the past eight months or so have taught us anything about this tenacious Tykes side, it’s you would be a fool to write them off.
A Barnsley side without Ismael is one thing.
However, for many at Oakwell a Barnsley side shorn of Mowatt’s mercurial talents doesn’t bear thinking about.
The influential captain will be a free agent in a matter of days.
And while Barnsley chief executive Dane Murphy claimed three weeks ago the club was “confident” of agreeing an extension, there has been little movement since. Ismael’s exit, meanwhile, threatens to complicate matters further.
West Brom could snare Mowatt after Ismael
And while we don’t mean to scaremonger, it is common knowledge West Bromwich Albion want a new central midfielder in the Mowatt mould.
One of Ismael’s first tasks at the Hawthorns will be to find someone capable of replacing Conor Gallagher or Ainsley Maitland-Niles in the Baggies’ engine room.
And Mowatt, a genuine box-to-box dynamo who finished 2020/21 with eight goals and seven assists to his name, would tick a lot of boxes.
Mowatt a ‘model professional’
Ismael described Mowatt as a “model professional” recently, handing the former Leeds youngster the captain’s armband for all but two of Barnsley’s Championship fixtures from October to May.
So you can’t blame Barnsley fans for thinking it’s only a matter of time before Mowatt is signing on the dotted line at the Hawthorns, arm in arm with the man who turned him into one of the Championship’s finest midfielders.
Here’s what some Tykes supporters had to say on Twitter about the situation:
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