Darren Moore draws line under Ben Whiteman future after Doncaster Rovers reject bid 'nowhere near club's value' of skipper

Rovers’ South Yorkshire rivals saw another offer rejected at the start of the week, with the Reds still a long way off meeting the valuation set for the 24-year-old.

It is understood that Barnsley have been dissuaded from making an improved offer following the latest rebuttal.

“It is the end of the matter, it’s as simple as that,” Moore said of Barnsley’s pursuit of Whiteman.

“It’s not deemed anywhere near the club’s valuation of where Ben is.

“And we feel that Ben is an integral part of the club this season so we move onwards.”

Barnsley saw a flurry of bids for Whiteman turned down over the summer before boss Gerhard Struber declared he saw the midfielder as a development player rather than an instant starter at Championship level.

The Reds’ continued interest in Whiteman despite Struber’s recent departure for New York Red Bulls perhaps indicates the former Manchester United trainee had been identified elsewhere in the Barnsley hierarchy.

Having received only tentative expressions of interest in Whiteman from other clubs this week, Rovers are not expecting further bids over the next day.

And they would be incredibly reluctant to any further offers with the transfer window in its final few hours and the opportunity to sign a replacement limited.

“Anything of that magnitude of this time in the window is too late,” Moore said.

“We just move forward. We’ve never been flustered with it or anything like that.

“The club had set its stall out from day one and we’ve been in total control of it.

“We don’t see any problems with it and we move on.

“It shows that we as a structure as a club and an organisation, we know where we are and we know the value of our players.

“And we know what we are trying to achieve this season.

“All the players, not just Ben, are valuable to us in terms of what we’re doing this season.

“There was a bid and it’s not there any longer as far as we’re concerned.”

*

Thank you to all who support local journalism with a print subscription.

The events of 2020 mean trusted, local journalism is more reliant than ever on your support.

We couldn't do it without you.

Please subscribe here https://www.localsubsplus.co.uk/ so we can keep campaigning on your behalf.

Stay safe.