Football Season Guide

Sheffield United

In


Anel Ahmedhodzic (def) Malmo FF; Tommy Doyle (mid) Manchester City - loan; Ciaran Clark (def) Newcastle United - loan; Lys Mousset (att) Salernitana - end of loan; Ismaila Coulibaly (mid) Beerschot - end of loan; Michael Verrips (gk) Fortuna Sittard - end of loan; Oliver Burke (att) Millwall - end of loan; Max Lowe (def) Nottingham Forest - end of loan; Luke Freeman (mid) Millwall - end of loan;

Out


Oliver Burke (att) Werder Bremen; David McGoldrick (att) (sp) Derby County; Luke Freeman (mid) Luton Town; Michael Verrips (gk) Fortuna Sittard; Jake Eastwood (gk) Ross County - loan; Lys Mousset (att) Released; Filip Uremovic (def) (sp) Rubin Kazan - end of loan; Morgan Gibbs-White (mid) (k) Wolverhampton Wanderers - end of loan; Ben Davies (def) (sp) Liverpool - end of loan; Conor Hourihane (mid) (sp) Aston Villa - end of loan; Charlie Goode (def) (sp) Brentford - end of loan;

Following their relegation from the Premier League in 2020-21, Sheffield United endured a dreadful start to last season under Slavisa Jokanovic, who was sacked in November. Paul Heckingbottom took charge for a second time and led the Blades on an excellent second half of the season to reach the playoffs, but were beaten in the semi-finals by Nottingham Forest. Several loan players and fringe players have left Bramall Lane upon the end of their loan spells and contracts, which has trimmed the size of the squad. Gibbs-White will be a huge miss after being integral to United's revival last season, and the attacking midfielder is yet to be properly replaced. Doyle is a fantastic addition from Man City, whilst Clark is a shrewd piece of business too, but Heckingbottom will be eager to see more arrivals in the coming weeks. Defensively and centrally, United possess an impressive squad for the Championship, whilst talents like Sander Berge are excellent for this division. However, United lack flair and width in their squad as things stand, leaving Heckingbottom with little adaptability if needing to freshen things up from the 3-5-2 setup. Without Gibbs-White too, there appears to be an over-reliance on Billy Sharp for goals again this season, with Brewster, McBurnie and Jebbison struggling to provide the quality to support him.

Target


Reaching the playoffs should be a minimum for United given their quality in this division. They require more additions to their strike force if they are to perform to their best however.