Barnsley hand Bradford City potential transfer blow | OneFootball

The Tykes are looking to benefit from the good work of the Bantams this season.

Barnsley are planning for defender Jack Shepherd, who has been on loan at Bradford City for the season, to be a big part of their plans for the 2025/26 campaign.

A bit of a reset period is on the horizon at Oakwell. Conor Hourihane now officially holds the reins after his interim post as the club's first-team head coach was made permanent just under two weeks ago.

The inexperienced boss has got some slightly better performances out of the Barnsley players in his first few games in charge, although no wins have come against Leyton Orient, Peterborough United or Shrewsbury Town, but he's going to need an effective summer window to be able to reshape this team in his image.

Jack Shepherd expected to play a major part in Barnsley's 24/25 campaign

Part of the restructuring on the playing side of things will involve the re-introduction of Shepherd, 24, into the first-team.

The former Pontefract Colleries player was signed by Barnsley in the summer of 2023 and has stood out on loan at Bradford as a rock at the back for Graham Alexander's side. Unfortunately for him, he may end up missing the Bantams' last game of the season - a pivotal promotion-decided against Fleetwood Town - due to a groin injury.

Regardless of how the rest of Bradford's season pans out, Barnsley's sporting director, Mladen Sormaz, is expecting Shepherd to play a big role in Hourihane's team next season.

"That would be my plan," said Sormaz to the Yorkshire Post on the 24-year-old defender coming back into the fold at Oakwell next season. "He has done brilliantly.

"One of the things Conor asked me as we were having a coffee was ‘what elements of the job do you like?’ and that might be my favourite. Because I didn’t sign him, but saw something in pre-season and thought he is probably not going to be quite in the first team, but this kid has got a chance.

"And what he has gone and done is absolutely amazing. We are really proud of him and looking forward to having him back."

Barnsley shouldn't expect instant results next season

Being in League One for the past three years has been a real pain in the neck for the Tykes and their supporters. They want to be in the Championship but haven't quite been able to get themselves over the line since being relegated in 2022.

And for those Barnsley fans hoping that 2025/26 will be the club's last in the third tier for a while, maybe pump the brakes just a bit.

A combination of a mid-table team, a completely new boss and a potential reliance on players like Shepherd who, for all he has performed well for Bradford, isn't proven to be a top League One player, doesn't look, on paper, like the ingredients for a successful season.