Butterfield to leave in summer?

Reds boss Keith Hill has said this week that he expects star Midfielder Jacob Butterfield to leave the club in the summer.

He expects him to move on to a ‘richer club` having still not signed the contract on offer from Barnsley.

Hill has said he would love him to stay but feels when bigger clubs come in with the kind of wages Barnsley could only dream of then they will face an uphill battle to keep him as we have already seen with the departures of Ricardo Vaz Te and Danny Drinkwater.

Butterfield has not ruled out staying at Barnsley but would like to see what options are available to him before signing a new contract with the reds.

After such a long time out with injury surely he would be better served staying at Barnsley even if it was just to sign a one year contract.

At Barnsley he would be elevated back in to the starting 11 at the earliest possible opportunity and have time to build match fitness and form. Barnsley have a small squad and budget and would need to play him.

At most other clubs who would want to sign him, without the match fitness etc behind him, the chances are he would have to wait for his chance to impress and may be limited to minutes on the pitch until he can establish himself.

The Premier League and higher Championship clubs interested in Butterfield all have fairly large squads and wouldn`t need to play him if he wasn`t 100 per cent which could hinder his long term prospects and possibly end up going down the Adam Hammill route.

Surely the sensible option for Butterfield is to still be a Barnsley player come the start of next season.