Hammill To Stay?

It's all anyone in Barnsley is talking about at the moment. Will he stay or will he go?.

Adam Hammill has been setting the Championship alight this season with some scintillating performances and is one of the top scoring midfielders in the division this term with 8 goals.

Rumours of interest from a host of Premier League clubs have been rife for a long time now and Barnsley boss Mark Robins has even conceded that he has admitted defeat in the fight to keep Hammill at the club.

There's been no solid confirmation that Hammill does have a release clause in his contract but it's perfectly feesible, given that he joined from Liverpool and has expressed a desire to play in the Premiership.

However, if the clause does indeed exist and any one of the Premier League clubs who have been keeping a watchful eye on the talented winger could in fact snap him up for a cut price, wouldn't they have done so already?

Seven days into the January transfer window, Robins is still insisting that nobody has come up with the cash to lure Hammill away from Oakwell. Why not?

Also, lest we forget, Hammill publicly stated that although he does desire to play in the top flight one day, he would like to see the season out at Barnsley.

He told Sky Sports in November: 'I just want to continue playing well for Barnsley. I enjoy my football here and the fans are great with me.

This club is ambitious. Burnley and Blackpool have shown what you can do with good players and some good team spirit - and we've got both here.

If we can get up there to the top end of the table by Christmas, then who knows what we can achieve?'

Granted, we're not in the top half of the table and Christmas has come and gone and granted what a player says and what a player does rarely match up but what if he's telling the truth? We are after all only two points off the top half and six points off the Play-Offs with games in hand on most teams.

Popular opinion right now is that Hammill's Barnsley days are numbered. Maybe they are. But I'll believe it when I see it.

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.