Barnsley have accused Daniel Stendel of breaching his contract during his time as manager by attempting to negotiate a deal at a rival English Championship club.

The German jetted into Edinburgh Airport yesterday to become Hearts' new manager but the Tykes continue to seek compensation for his services.

He was sacked by the club but kept on the payroll on gardening leave before he agreed to become boss at Tynecastle.

In a statement released by Barnsley on their website, the club revealed the reasons they parted company with their manager.

It read: "Barnsley Football Club would also like to finally address the separation with our former Head Coach Daniel Stendel. This may come as little consolation but it is only right that our supporters have a picture of what has taken place at their Club.

"Early in the season Daniel Stendel entered into negotiations with a rival Sky Bet Championship club, to take over their managerial post and recruited other members of contracted Barnsley Football Club staff to follow him. 

"Never once did Mr. Stendel seek approval or alert members of the Club’s Board to these discussions. Only when approached, by the Board, was there any sign of acknowledgement. 

"This was a clear violation of Mr. Stendel’s contract and created additional unnecessary ‎distractions for our club which was recently promoted to the Sky Bet Championship. 

"This event, coupled with numerous other issues, led to removal of Mr. Stendel as Head Coach. 

"Out of respect for his contributions to the tremendous 2018/2019 season, we wanted to settle this matter privately and amicably out of the eye of the public. 

"After two months of unproductive discussions (and the subsequent public announcement by Heart of Midlothian that he has joined them as their new manager), the Club cannot wait any longer in speaking to its fans.

"More recently we have attempted negotiations of a settlement with Heart of Midlothian Football Club for the services of Mr. Stendel, Chris Stern, and Dale Tonge to no avail.

"The Club will continue to vigorously defend its rights against all parties involved in tampering of Club staff so the Club recovers all damages incurred. All recovered damages will be reinvested in our squad."

Hearts, meanwhile, have vowed to stand their ground in the discussions and insist they are well within their rights to defend themselves legally should any claims be officially lodged in court by Barnsley.

They said: "We are aware of the statement released by Barnsley Football Club earlier today in relation to our appointment of Daniel Stendel to the post of First Team Manager.

"On behalf of the Board of Directors of Heart of Midlothian Football Club, we would like to reassure our supporters that we have followed all proper procedures in appointing Daniel Stendel. 

"He was not an employee of Barnsley Football Club when we first consulted him and there is no basis on which Heart of Midlothian Football Club is liable to Barnsley Football Club. 

"Misleading reports and statements to the contrary elsewhere are entirely false. Should any claim be commenced against Heart of Midlothian Football Club, it will be defended in the strongest possible terms.

"We are looking forward to supporting Daniel in what we hope will be a long and successful tenure at Heart of Midlothian. Given that we consider any threatened claim to be entirely without merit, we do not propose to comment further on this matter."