Chris Wilder has already made Sheffield United transfer priority clear amid intriguing Man City link that isn’t Kalvin Phillips
Chris Wilder has made his Sheffield United transfer wish crystal clear ahead of a key summer - but that hasn’t stopped the Blades being linked with a player who, at face value, would completely contradict it. The Blades are in the midst of a key summer in the transfer market.
The group that reports back to Shirecliffe this week will be a trimmed down version of last season’s after a number of loan and free-transfer departures, while Tahith Chong remains on World Cup duty with Curacao.
But further departures are expected in the coming weeks ahead of the new season, with boss Wilder keen to slim down the numbers at his disposal. A few areas are priority in terms of incomings, including centre-half.
Currently only skipper Japhet Tanganga’s future at Bramall Lane is somewhat assured. Ben Mee, Tyler Bindon and Leo Hjelde have already departed and Mark McGuinness may yet follow them.
And United have been linked with a move for Manchester City’s Max Alleyne. The highly-rated 20-year-old centre-half is regarded as one of City's brightest defensive prospects and spent time on loan at Watford last season, playing seven times for City after returning to the Etihad at the mid-term point.
The expectation is that Alleyne will spend next season playing regular first-team football elsewhere and ordinarily, signing a young, talented defender from one of the world's best academies would appear to tick plenty of boxes - especially given United’s current options, or lack of them, at the back.
The complication is that Wilder has already made his feelings abundantly clear when it comes to the make-up of his squad. The Blades boss has spoken repeatedly about the need for more experience, more know-how and more players who understand the demands of Championship football after last season's disappointing 13th-placed finish.
"We don't need any more young players," Wilder has previously said when outlining his plans for the summer. "We've got five young players which we've developed ourselves Knowing your way around a football pitch and around the division is hugely important for the progression of the team, and to win games and to put value in our players."
The comments were made in the context of a wider review of United's recruitment strategy following the club's ill-fated flirtation with AI-assisted transfers, which brought in a number of younger players who struggled to make an impact.
Some of them have already moved on and the others, including Nils Zatterstrom and Mihail Polendakov, are expected to depart this summer, either on loan or permanent deals. “There are going to be big changes in the summer," Wilder warned. "There's potentially going to be 15 to 20 players leave the club.”
The United chief has already pointed to the likes of Coventry City, Middlesbrough and Millwall as examples of the squad he wants to assemble this summer. "We're the fourth or fifth youngest team in the division,” he added.
“Look at Coventry – average age of 29. You look at their back line. You look at Middlesbrough's back line, you've got Matt Targett, Luke Ayling, Callum Brittain. You've got [Adilson] Malanda who has come over on a big fee from the States. "Look at Millwall's team as well – Joe Bryan, [Zak] Sturge, Jake Cooper have been around the division.”
The blueprint is clear, the reasoning sensible. Alleyne may be one of the most highly-rated young defenders in English football - but if he is to arrive at Bramall Lane, he will be doing so with the expectations of a senior player upon his young shoulders.
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