Sheffield United are just coming to the end of a long pre-season, yet it will be the coming weeks which go a long way to determining their prospects for 2025-26.
Things have not run smoothly since, though.
The departure of manager Chris Wilder was a shock – not least because new owners, COH Sports, had been so supportive of him, in terms of words even before they arrived and a new contract shortly after.
Fresh start: Sheffield United manager Ruben Selles has seen more players leave than arrive this summer as he is tasked with going one better that manager Chris Wilder managed last season. (Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe)placeholder image
Fresh start: Sheffield United manager Ruben Selles has seen more players leave than arrive this summer as he is tasked with going one better that manager Chris Wilder managed last season. (Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe)
The Americans’ reliance on science when it came to identifying players always had huge potential to end in tears, and so it has proven.
In their first managerial appointment, COH wisely decided not to reinvent the wheel. In some tough jobs, as relegation-bound Southampton's caretaker and in charge of Reading and Hull City during financial turbulence (and then some, with the Royals), Ruben Selles has shown himself to be a shrewd pragmatist, not a footballing revolutionary.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it, is certainly not a bad approach at Bramall Lane, where refinements were all that was really needed.
A lack of signings and the soap opera at Hillsborough have allowed Selles to get on with his job properly, which is no bad thing.
Sheffield United sacked manager Chris Wilder after they lost in the Championship play-off final (Picture: PA)placeholder image
Sheffield United sacked manager Chris Wilder after they lost in the Championship play-off final (Picture: PA)
But "going again" is difficult in an era where increasingly sides only get one shot at glory before things are ripped up. In the last year of their Premier League parachute payment, the Blades really need promotion.
Keeping hold of star players was always going to be a challenge, with the likes of Gustavo Hamer and Michael Cooper showing themselves worthy of Premier League football.
So with the greatest of respect to them, if the Blades only lose Rhian Brewster, Kieffer Moore, Vinicius Souza and Anel Ahmedhodzic in the last year of his contract, that could be turned into a win. If. For that to be the case, the money will have to be reinvested wisely, which is why Moore and Ahmedhodzic only leaving on Monday for roughly £9m combined makes the next weeks particularly significant.
Games against Bristol City – swept aside by the Blades in the play-offs in May, Swansea City, Millwall and Middlesbrough will be less significant than transfer dealings.
Blades manager Ruben Selles talks to Sydie Peck who will be key this year, but they have just lost Kieffer Moore, left, to Wrexham (Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe)placeholder image
Blades manager Ruben Selles talks to Sydie Peck who will be key this year, but they have just lost Kieffer Moore, left, to Wrexham (Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe)
If they have still not paid a transfer fee by 7pm on September 1 – except for those controversial AI "project signings" who by their very nature will need time and patience – fans will be concerned. Hamer and Cooper will want the reassurance that there is something worth hanging around for too.
Tyler Bindon's loan arrival can fill Ahmedhodzic's place but with Rob Holding leaving after his loan – he has joined Colorado Rapids – and Rhys Norrington-Davies needing a prolonged run of games before we can take his fitness for granted, depth is needed at centre-back.
Post-loanees Hamza Choudhury, Alfie Gilchrist and Harry Clarke, and with Jamie Shackleton injured again, cover will be needed for the developing but sometimes erratic Femi Seriki at right-back.
The biggest concern is up front. Tyrese Campbell was excellent last season and there is no reason to think he will not be again, but Championship sides need a battery of strikers, if not quite the full gamut of centre-forwards Neil Warnock used to like working with.
Louie Barry is likely to be used as a wide attacker more in the mould of Ben Brereton Diaz than Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, two more loanees who have gone back, and it seems as though Tom Cannon – yet to ignite after joining from Stoke City in January – could be too.
If those two can find the net regularly, someone who can replicate Moore's hold-up play might be more important than a player who can improve on his five-goal tally.
The Souza-shaped hole in central midfield has been filled by the athletic Djibril Soumare – another loanee – and if Oliver Arblaster can get back to top form after cruciate knee ligament damage, those two and Sydie Peck could offer a formidable midfield.
Nothing is drastically wrong, and whether you agree with it or not, their AI scouting and youth development means there is a clear long-term strategy. Selles buys into both parts, rather than just the latter like Wilder.
Two goals in pre-season for Ehije Ukaki – the AI straw who broke the camel's back in June – and the shine Selles has taken to 18-year-old defender Dovydas Sasnauskas both bode well.
But the ticking clock before their parachute is cut means this season has to be about short-term thinking. And hopefully making sure Ahmedhodzic is the last of the big-name departures.
In: Mihail Polendakov (Septemvri Sofia, permanent), Ehije Ukaki (Botev Plovdiv, permanent), Djibril Soumare (Braga, loan), Louie Barry (Aston Villa, loan), Tyler Bindon (Nottingham Forest, loan).
Out: Anel Ahmedhodzic (Feyenoord, £7m), Kieffer Moore (Wrexham, £2m), Vinicius Souza (Wolfsburg, permanent), Rhian Brewster (Derby County, free), Billy Blacker (Tranmere Rovers, loan).