Sheffield United will go into the new Championship season with many of the players who came within a whisker of promotion to the Premier League.<\/b><\/p>\n
There are seasoned professionals, players with top-flight experience and plenty of exciting youngsters; both from the Blades’ academy and those who have been recruited over the past few seasons.<\/p>\n
There are also a lot of unknowns at Bramall Lane as a new era begins with new manager Ruben Selles chosen to lead the Blades by American owners COH Sports in their first full season in the boardroom.<\/p>\n
The time to fully judge a club’s summer business is when the transfer window closes but, right now, while the squad has quality, it feels weaker than last season and lacks depth in several areas.<\/p>\n
And part of that is due to players choosing Championship rivals over a return to Bramall Lane.<\/p>\n
Sheffield United offered record signing Rhian Brewster a new contract and reportedly wanted to re-sign fellow striker Oli McBurnie.<\/p>\n
But Brewster has elected to join Derby<\/a> and Hull City are set to win McBurnie’s signature – those are two teams who were battling relegation last season.<\/p>\n The Blades have now sold defender Anel Ahmedhodzic<\/a> to Dutch side Feyenoord with striker Kieffer Moore joining newly-promoted Wrexham,<\/a> and that’s after seeing Vinicius Souza depart<\/a> for a big-money move to VfL Wolfsburg in Germany.<\/p>\n Ahmedhodzic and Souza were key parts of last season’s promotion push, with both starting the Championship play-off final, and supporters will expect the significant sums received for the pair to be reinvested over the next month.<\/p>\n Some would be happy to see Brewster, McBurnie and Moore plying their trade at other second-tier clubs this season, as all three players had their critics among the Blades’ fanbase.<\/p>\n Others will have concerns about the club’s ambitions off the pitch, and its ability on the pitch to compete for promotion – considering this summer’s business so far and in referring to what the board said in a statement when Selles was appointed.<\/p>\n “As owners, please know that we remain unwavering in our goal: to see Sheffield United not only return to the Premier League, but to establish ourselves as a club that can compete consistently at a high level,” the statement said.<\/p>\n