Mansfield Town star Davis Keillor-Dunn finally joins Barnsley for undisclosed fee

The Tykes had been chasing Keillor-Dunn's signature all summer but failed to come up with a bid that reached Mansfield's valuation.

Stags did all they could to keep their man with a lucrative new deal offered to him.

But Keillor-Dunn turned it down and, with time running out, the Yorkshire club finally upped to the Stags' satisfaction and last season's top scorer got the move he wanted with Mansfield at least making a handsome profit on the player.

Manager Nigel Clough said: “Barnsley eventually got to a bid that was acceptable to the club.

“Davis has made no secret of his desire to leave us for the last few weeks and you reach the stage where you think it’s best for all parties if that happens.

“We offered him a new deal and said: ‘will you discuss a new deal?’ and offered to make him probably the highest paid player in the club’s history, but he didn’t want to sit down and discuss it.

“His mind was made up. He’s had his head turned by Barnsley and I think as staff and as a squad, when that’s the situation then it is best for the player to move on.

“He’s been fantastic for us. We took him out of Burton – he wasn’t really playing.

“His goals and assists were magnificent for us, but we move on. That’s football and we move on with trying to find a replacement and find the next one.

“If we can sign a few more players for £25,000 and sell them for almost a club record fee, then that’s good business.

“We will miss him on the pitch, no doubt at all, but already the uncertainty spreads within the squad and we can’t afford any of that in the next eight months.”

The Sunderland-born 26-year-old really caught the eye with 25 goals in 87 outings for Oldham Athletic.

He then scored five goals in 19 games at Burton before a move to Stags where he hit 29 goals in 65 starts and 10 sub appearances.

Last season he finished top scorer with 22 goals and a place in the League Two Team of the Season.