At last, it's a done deal! Dan Barlaser joins Rotherham United on a full transfer

Dan Barlaser becomes a full-time Miller. Picture by Dave Poucher

The playmaker today finalised a three-year switch to AESSEAL New York Stadium for an undisclosed fee in a move which will delight Millers fans.

Supporters have been clamouring for a return for Barlaser ever since he played a huge part in the club's League One promotion while on loan last season.

He had gone back to parent club Newcastle United last spring when coronavirus shut down football and had hoped to play his way into the Magpies' Premier League plans in pre-season.

Rotherham bided their time, officially expressing their interest only when it eventually became clear that the 23-year-old wouldn't be part of Toon boss Steve Bruce's thinking.

"I'm really pleased," Millers manager Paul Warne said. "When Dan left us at the end of last season we always wanted to get him back. He had a really influential year here with us."

Barlaser, who is available to face Huddersfield Town at New York in the Championship this Saturday if selected, had other teams chasing him but Rotherham was always his first-choice destination.

Talks between the Millers, Newcastle and the player's agent had been going on for around a month.

The Geordie's ambition from childhood had been to break into the Magpies side and Warne, while ecstatic to capture one of his big targets of this transfer window, described the transfer as "bitter-sweet".

"I really wanted Dan to succeed at Newcastle for his own sake," the boss said. "He'd been at the club since he was about nine. It was a dream of his and his family for him to pay in the first team at Newcastle regularly.

"I politely kept my distance. I was always texting him to wish him well but I was never saying: 'When are you coming back?' I wasn't like that with him. I always wanted him to do well.

"When we got the green light that we could start the process, we did. It's great to have him back, but I am tinged with a little bit of sadness for him because I knew what his dream was.

"It's our job as a bunch of coaches to try to get him to the Premier League in another way."

Barlaser was in the final year of his contract at St James' Park and becomes Warne’s eighth new arrival of the summer window.

Newcastle, recognising the player's potential, have insisted on a large sell-on percentage of around 40 per cent or more.