It seemed from his first day as a Vancouver Whitecaps player, that Giles Barnes was not going to be a member of the squad for long. Many fans and pundits suggested he was a 2016 rental player and would return to England in the off-season. That is, he was a stopgap for the Whitecaps striker woes.
As the off-season continued, there were expectations that it was only a matter of time before Barnes was shipped off to Blackburn Rovers FC of the English Championship, and reunited with former Houston Dynamo coach Owen Coyle. Even as the delay remained there was still belief that Barnes was going to be transferred.