Barnsley FC will surely regret letting star go in 2018 – He smashed it after leaving Oakwell | OneFootball

In the summer of 2018, Barnsley sold Christoph Knasmullner after just a few months at the club, and he went on to show his quality at Austria Vienna.

In the January transfer window of 2019, Barnsley sanctioned the departure of Austrian attacking midfielder Christoph Knasmullner to Austria Vienna, and it is a decision that the Tykes must now surely regret a few years down the line.

Knasmullner had joined Barnsley from Admira Wacker in January 2018 for an undisclosed fee, in what was the first transfer window following the takeover of the club by a consortium led by Chien Lee.

Jose Morais, who had been assistant to Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan, Chelsea and Real Madrid, was clearly unconvinced by Knasmullner, with the Austrian making just three appearances for the club.

Despite the arrival of Daniel Stendel to Oakwell in the summer of 2018, Knasmullner departed South Yorkshire after just five months at the club, and he went on to thrive back in Austria.

Knasmullner’s unfulfilled promise at Barnsley

Knasmullner began his youth career with FC Stadlau before a stint at Austria Vienna and then eventually progressing through to Bayern Munich, where he enjoyed reasonable success in the Bayern II side.

He then moved on to Inter in January 2011, but departed the Nerrazzurri in the summer of 2011 for 2. Bundesliga outfit Ingolstadt, where he went on to make 22 appearances across as a fringe player from 2011 to 2014.

Admira Wacker is where he began to fulfil the potential that had seen him earn moves to Bayern and Inter, with eight goals in 35 Austrian Bundesliga appearances in the 2016/17 campaign, before hitting 12 in just 18 games ahead of his move to Barnsley mid-way through the 2017/18 season.

However, as Barnsley suffered relegation to the third-tier of English football at the end of the 2017/18 campaign, winning just two of their final 13 games, Knasmullner found himself very much on the fringes at Oakwell.

The then 25-year-old made just one start of the club, in a 3-1 defeat to Middlesbrough at the Riverside, after a couple of substitute appearances, one of which saw him register an assist for Oli McBurnie in a 2-1 loss to Cardiff City, before then not making the squad for the rest of the campaign.

Knasmullner enjoyed his time back in Austria

Having departed Barnsley for Austrian giants Rapid Vienna in the summer of 2018, Knasmullner fell back into his comfort zone and went on to make 174 appearances for the club, 30 of which came in European competition.

Knasmullner scored 11 goals and provided 15 assists in the 2018/19 season before enjoying an impressive following few years, the highlight of which saw him notch 14 goals and provide two assists in the 2020/21 campaign.

Knasmullner eventually went on to show real promise with Rapid after his underwhelming stint in England, and it will leave Barnsley perhaps regretting what could have been.

Supporters have been critical of the decisions made by the club in recent years and the premature sale of Knasmullner must fall into that category, too.

Surely the former Bayern Munich midfielder would have able to provide something for them in the Championship, as well as League One, if he had been granted more minutes during his short stint at Oakwell.