Barnsley have been one of the early movers in the transfer window and the newly-promoted Championship completed their second signing of the summer with the arrival of winger Luke Thomas from Derby County.
The Tykes have signed the 20-year-old for a fee in the region of £1.2m after he spent last season on loan at League One Coventry City , scoring five goals and contributing five assists in 44 appearances.
Thomas had been with Derby since January 2016 after joining from Cheltenham Town but only featured for the Rams in two matches across two-and-a-half seasons, struggling to make the breakthrough at Pride Park.
Bristol Live understands Bristol City did make enquiries to Derby over the availability of Thomas, who is a natural right winger but can also play as a second striker, but it's unclear if a definitive offer was made to the Rams.
Thomas has signed a four-year contract at Oakwell with Cheltenham entitled to 15 per cent of the transfer fee as per Derby's agreement with the League Two club.
Thomas said: "I am very excited to join a club like Barnsley. It’s a young, talented side and they proved that last season when they got promoted, so I’ am very happy to be here and, hopefully, I can bring something new to the team.
"I thought Barnsley were probably the best team in the division (League One); they are very hard-working and can keep the ball very well, and it is a team that I will love to play in."
Thomas becomes Barnsley's second new arrival after they turned Mike Bahre's loan move from Hannover into a permanent deal.
