Gus Hamer fear still lingers as Sheffield United transfer work leaves Ruben Selles with no excuses - verdict
The 7pm transfer deadline has come and gone without any indication that Gustavo Hamer will not be a Sheffield United player at least for the next few months - but a minute, theoretical possibility that he is still prised away from Bramall Lane this summer still exists. The majority of United’s business before the cut-off point was inbound, with Alex Matos, Chieo Ogbene and Mark McGuinness putting pen to paper on the final day before Ben Mee signed as a free agent.
Ogbene has joined on loan from Ipswich Town for the rest of the season while Matos has penned a three-year deal after the Blades agreed an undisclosed fee with Chelsea. News of McGuinness’s move was confirmed 45 minutes after the deadline and was followed, two and a half hours later, by Jack Robinson’s departure to Birmingham City, bringing to an end an eventful time in South Yorkshire for the divisive former Liverpool man.
More importantly for Unitedites was keeping Hamer at Bramall Lane, the 28-year-old seen as vital to the Blades’ hopes of turning around their terror start to the season.
Despite some whispers of late interest from Leeds United, confirmed suitors of Hamer going back to last summer, as they panickedly approached the deadline, that didn’t materialise and PSV Eindhoven successfully keeping hold of their midfielder Joey Veerman meant they did not make a move for Hamer before the English deadline passed.
Intriguingly, though, Dutch clubs can sign players until 11.59pm on Tuesday evening - meaning the theoretical possibility exists of PSV testing United’s resolve before their own cut-off point. It seems unlikely at this stage, though, with Hamer understood to have been earmarked as a potential replacement for Veerman amid interest from Premier League club Brentford.
Gus Hamer fear still lingers as Sheffield United transfer work leaves Ruben Selles with no excuses - verdict
But the possibility adds another layer of intrigue to a window that limped along slowly for the most part from a United perspective, before exploding into life at the death. For a large part of the summer loanees Tyler Bindon and Louie Barry were Ruben Selles’ only senior incomings, apart from the wildcard arrivals of Ehije Ukaki and Mihail Polendakov from Bulgaria.
Djibril Soumare was seen as an important part of the jigsaw to address United’s painful lack of depth in midfield but he was not joined by anyone at Bramall Lane for what seemed an age, with United’s disjointed recruitment approach leaving manager Selles frustrated.
Only after he went public with his dissatisfaction, admitting United’s summer approach had “not been good enough” and including himself in that criticism, did things begin to change. United suddenly signed four players within a week, three of them centre-backs to leave that area of the pitch particularly strong - or overstocked, depending on your point of view.
Danny Ings’ arrival began to address the imbalance of experience levels in Selles’ squad, with Mee later following, while the deadline-day arrivals of Matos and Ogbene add some midfield bite and wide pace respectively.
The arrivals of McGuinness and Mee only further increased the number of centre-half options at Selles’ disposal, while time will tell whether Nathan Redmond follows fellow trialists Ings and Mee in agreeing a Bramall Lane deal following the capture of Ogbene.
But, despite question marks about their strategy and nonsense about “asset stripping,” owners COH Sports have given Selles the tools to arrest United’s poor start to the season, albeit later rather than sooner. The Spaniard had few excuses already, but virtually none going forward.
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