Haynes in Demand

Life is good when you are a footballer, even when your club don’t want you, there always seems to be a few others interested in giving you a home. That is the case with Danny Haynes who is subject of a bidding war between Millwall and Charlton Athletic after Barnsley manager Keith Hill said he no longer needed the young striker.

How heartless of Mr. Hill I hear you cry! Fear not as it is reported Charlton are in talks with the Oakwell club over the striker despite already having one bid chucked in the litter bin.

Reports suggest that offer was in the region of £100k and Barnsley said that was short of their valuation of the 23 year-old forward who has also drawn the eyes of Millwall, with whom he spent a briefer-than-brief spell with five years ago playing just 5 games. He did score 2 goals though, so it was just about worth it.

Even though that short stay at the Den suggested Haynes’ potential, he has never been prolific for a striker, having totalled a return of 33 goals in 195 appearances which makes even Emile Heskey look like Gerd Muller. His best return for a single season is a near-embarrassing 9 goals in 41 games, which he managed at Ipswich in 2007.

Haynes doesn’t have to be played as a striker though, he’s versatile you see, can play out wide too, utilising his pace as a winger. However Millwall do already have Liam Feeney, Hamer Bouzza and James Henry to fill the wide spots, so it looks as though Kenny Jackett may be installing his faith in the faint belief he can re-find Haynes’ shooting-boots and use him as a partner for Darius Henderson to score the goals that will see Millwall pull away from the relegation zone.

Millwall were looking for a loan deal initially, but with reports emanating from Oakwell that he was a disruptive influence in the Barnsley dressing room, Keith Hill would want to jettison Haynes like a bout of the plague. Plus he has scored no goals from 13 games to make him even less helpful to the Keith Hill cause.

With Charlton’s interest for a permanent transfer, Millwall are believed to have been pushed into a bid for the striker today, apparently in the region of £150,000. The club are in talks with both clubs over a possible route out of Oakwell for the goal-shy Haynes, who will probably miss his taxi as he leaves.

@AdamGray1250