Joey Barton has revealed Bristol Rovers have reached an “impasse” over contract talks with Harry Anderson.
Anderson is one of five Rovers first-team regulars, along with player/coaches Glenn Whelan and Anssi Jaakkola, who are out of contract this summer and has been a key member of Barton’s squad over the last two campaigns, making 76 appearances in League One and League Two after arriving in the summer of 2021.
His 2022/23 campaign has been blighted by injuries with the 26-year-old undergoing groin surgery in March and he’s only been able to feature in 25 of Rovers’ 41 league matches, although has been available for the last four matches.
Anderson’s versatility is a huge and unique asset to Barton given he can cover wide positions both in attack and defence and there aren’t too many players of his ilk in the EFL, but his future in BS7 beyond June remains uncertain.
“Harry’s had a contract offer and we’re at a bit of an impasse in between,” Barton said. “Harry’s somebody who’s well thought of in the group but sometimes people think they can get more money, or whatever, and that’s the player and the agent’s prerogative.
“I think we’ve made him a fair offer, as we have with a few of the lads, and there’ll be some feedback on that and hopefully we can get them resolved.
“We’ve got to be careful here. We’re trying to build a group for next year looking to push on and finish higher than what we have this year, and from our perspective there’s a sustainability element - we’ve got to do it on whatever budget that the boss and Tom Gorringe settle and give us.
“We haven’t got unlimited pots of money, and usually when you start a negotiation with somebody they want more money. That’s tricky because if you want more money then you’ve tended to have to be playing more regularly and doing well.
“The next few weeks will flush that out with the players and their agents and hopefully we’ll get some closure before the season’s out and lads know where they stand.”
With the contract situations of a number of players still up in the air, plus the loan returns of Jarell Quansah, Ellery Balcombe, Lamare Bogarde, Lewis Gibson and Josh Coburn, Barton faces another busy summer just replacing those individuals leaving, let alone looking to build on the group he has in the building.
Having recruited double figures players over the last two summer windows, it’s not an ideal situation as the manager admits he’d rather make a few “tweaks” but a by-product of the market in League One.
There’s also a feeling that with so many moving parts in the market, that Rovers have to be cute with their contract offers given the options that could emerge over the course of the window.
“As you know, you sign people to new deals and then you get in next season and somebody else pops up and that person who’s signed a new deal, you end up going, ‘you might play that much, we’ve just signed this new player’,” Barton added.
“Or there’s a loan from another club, or a transfer that maybe wasn’t there (at the start of the window). For us, I want to have minimal disruption in the off-season because it means we can glue the team together quicker but also history at every club I’ve been at has told me it is the off-season.
“For me, we think that’s a fair contract, do you want to sign it? Yes or no? If they do, great, if they don’t, they can kick on and we’ll look for a different option.
“I’m hoping I’ve got five or six (transfers) to do in the summer, but the reality is I’ll probably have to do 8, 9, 10, 12, depending on renegotiations and loans etc in the back-end of the window.”
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