Stellenbosch captain Deano Van Rooyen is reportedly closing in on a move to Orlando Pirates.
Both clubs are in preparations for the upcoming Betway Premiership season and are still in the process of finalising their squads.
Stellies have become something of a feeder team to other South African top-flight sides over the past seasons, but recently expressed their desire to retain the core of the team that helped the club to a third-placed finish last time out.
Van Rooyen was a key figure for Barker last term, but a report from SABC Sport suggests talks are already underway for the talented right-back, who was left on the bench as Stellies overcame TS Galaxy in their 3-1 MTN8 quarter-final win last weekend.
Barker though explained that the player was rested due to an injury.
The head coach explained: “Deano is having a bit of a niggle. The last two days before a match against [TS Galaxy], he didn’t train.
“So it was a little bit more precautionary plus the conditions of the pitch, we felt a player like Kyle [Jurgens] would help with longer balls and playing a little bit direct.
“I wasn’t too sure if they’ll start a player like Samir Nurkovic; I know he didn’t play much in the pre-season, so we thought with those conditions of the pitch, Kyle would be more suited.
“We were also protecting Deano from further aggravating the injury, so that was the main course. Obviously, the media and speculations affect the player.”
Barker added: “We’ve always said and maintained that we want to keep our players. We feel that we are a team that can challenge for honours in the league as well as in cup competitions. And that’s our intention, to work as hard as possible to retain our squad.”