"It's exciting" - Sheffield United owners lauded for "new" transfer technique | OneFootball

Football League World's Sheffield United fan pundit praises the Blades' new transfer recruitment strategy

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Sheffield United's chances of winning promotion from the Championship to the Premier League were handed a boost in December when American-based Consortium COH Sports, led by Steve Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy, completed their long-awaited takeover of the club.

Following the takeover, Chris Wilder was hopeful of signing five new players during the January transfer window, and the Blades boss was given even more than he had wished for once the window came to a close on Monday night.

While the winter transfer market was open, the South Yorkshire club successfully acquired forward Ben Brereton Diaz, striker Tom Cannon, midfielder Hamza Choudhury, right-back Harry Clarke and centre-back Rob Holding, who were seemingly the five individuals Wilder had alluded to.

But come deadline day, the Blades also welcomed the AI-driven additions of 22-year-old Peruvian winger Jefferson Caceres, and fellow wideman Christian Nwachukwu, a 19-year-old Nigerian who had been plying his trade in Bulgaria for Botev Plovdiv.

Following Cacereres and Nwachukwu's respective Bramall Lane arrivals, Football League World asked our United fan pundit, Jimmy, if he could see the pair of new signings being hidden gems, or if the money could have been better spent elsewhere, given the club's promotion bid.

Sheffield United's new transfer strategy praised by fan pundit

Jimmy, who runs the Blades Ramble YouTube channel, told FLW: "In terms of the new lads, it's exciting.

"It's exciting for the club to be entering a new era, if you like, under the new ownership and testing forward-thinking methods of player recruitment.

"It's new, very new for the club, but it's exciting, and it's something that we're all looking forward to seeing.

"If these players do turn out to be rough diamonds, or can be sold on for a profit at a later date or even better, impact the first team directly, then it's been worth the investment.

"In terms of the money being spent elsewhere, I don't really think that's a consideration or a concern for the club.

"This initiative is driven by the new ownership, and they made the decision to sanction extra funding for these types of signings, so it's not like it's been taken away from Chris Wilder's budget, and obviously Chris Wilder will have been consulted as well, but it's not like it's coming out of his budget for the first team, to try and get some development players.

"So, no concerns from our perspective at the moment."

Sheffield United supporters and Chris Wilder could not have hoped for a better January transfer window

Achieving automatic promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking is no mean feat, but that's exactly what the Blades have in mind for the end of the campaign.

Therefore, it was imperative that Wilder and co enjoyed a successful January transfer window, and that's just what the club's new owners were able to produce.

Signings such as former Arsenal defender Holding, who has joined on loan from Crystal Palace and boasts bags of Premier League experience, should have what it takes to help steer the Blades towards the top-flight, while Cannon's goalscoring record in the Championship for former club Stoke City suggests he could be a real asset too.

But the surprise additions of Cacereres and Nwachukwu demonstrate that COH Sports are also taking the future into serious consideration when it comes to making new signings, which must delight Wilder and the Bramall Lane faithful alike.