Despite being without a first team manager, Barnsley have today made their fifth signing of 2020-2021 and the second from England.
Callum Brittain has arrived from League One side MK Dons with the full-back cum midfielder likely to be a direct replacement for Kilian Ludewig whose season long loan from Red Bull Salzburg was cut short this month.
The move however will cause some angst due to the fact the 22 year old has signed for an undisclosed fee yet could have probably been signed for a nominal fee during the summer as his Dons contract expired at the end of June before they resigned him in August.
Brittain started his career with MK Dons, joining their academy at the tender age of eight in 2006 and signed professional terms ahead of the 2016-2017 campaign.
He made his debut in a 4-1 defeat to the Norwich Under 23 side in the EFL trophy that season and his first three appearances came in three different competitions, appearing next in a 2-0 FA Cup Third Round defeat at Brighton in January 2017 and then finally his League One bow at the end of that month in a 4-0 win at Peterborough.
Brittain’s first five appearances all came from the bench and none before the 80th minute, finally getting his first start in April 2017 in a 1-0 defeat at home to Scunthorpe where he played for 56 minutes.
Brittain appeared eight times in total that season before making his big breakthrough in 2017-2018, making 33 appearances in all competitions and also scoring his first professional goal in September 2017 in a 1-1 draw with Oxford and he would score his second in April 2018 in a 5-1 defeat at Wigan. However it was an unsuccessful season for MK who finished second from bottom and were relegated to League Two.
He was again a key figure in 2018-2019 as MK Dons made an immediate return to the third tier, finishing third and automatically promoted as Brittain appeared 37 times in all competitions and grabbed his third goal in a 3-1 win at Macclesfield in March 2019.
Last season was another good campaign for Brittain as he featured 37 times and scored in a 2-1 win against Lincoln and 4-1 success at Southend, within seven days of each other and the latter coming in the EFL Cup.
With the season curtailed in March Brittain left the club when his contract expired at the end of June but then re-signed in August on a two year contract and had featured in seven matches this season, the most recent four days ago in a Football League Trophy 3-2 victory at Stevenage.
Brittain has also attracted recognition at international level, winning five England Under 20 caps between 2017-2018, a season in which he was named MK Dons Young Player of the Year.