Barnsley: Daniel Stendel on how much he will look to Germany for signings

The Reds are building a squad to compete in the Championship and co-chairman Paul Conway hinted that Stendel could tap into his knowledge of players in is homeland and unearth some gems in the transfer market.

Mike-Steven Bahre was one player who already made the transition to England as he followed Stendel from Hannover last summer.

But Stendel's promotion-winning squad was mainly made up of British talent and the German got a taste for working with them.

He has not ruled out adding the odd compatriot to his squad, but insists the quality of the player matters more than his nationality.

Stendel told the Star: “We don't need to sign players from Germany, this season we played really well and I was really surprised with the attitude of the players and we have a lot of players from the UK, Scottish, Welsh, English players.

“I enjoyed working with these players and it is possible we sign some players from Germany, but it can be from anywhere.

“They have to be good players, that's the most important.

“At the end it is decided by how many players we can keep in the squad for next season, then it is decided what we need.”

The Reds' style of play, although clearly succesful in League One, could potentially be even better suited to the Championship.

But recent ups and downs, with the likes of Rotherham, Wigan and Bolton often yo-yoing between the two divisions, shows there is a big gap between the two.

Stendel might be quietly confident of how well his side could do, but for now he insists staying up is the priority.

“The Championship game is different to League One, but there is so much more quality in the Championship and it is a tough league,” he added.

“Especially when you are promoted it is tough to stay in this league and it will be hard to achieve our goal next year of playing in the Championship.”

Stendel's success at Oakwell has seen him linked with the vacant job at Middlesbrough.

Tony Pulis left his position at the Riverside last week and Boro are yet to find a replacement.

Stendel is among the names mentioned in the betting market, recently been cut from 20/1 to 8/1.