Blades business stew & more – it's the Maxwell Transfer Mailbag

Ali Maxwell is talking transfers, including: Blades business, Bristol City’s latest recruit, Mike Duff’s midfield conundrum, Sunderland hypotheticals, Charlton's summer and more.

Ali Maxwell

It has been a week…

When Ollie Watkins smacked his shot through Dutch legs, I can’t pretend that my mind was rooted in EFL transfers, although there was plenty of EFL love, beer and elation in the air during that ecstatic moment in the Westfalenstadion. But a few hours later — I can’t honestly be sure how many — I’ve gone from shirt-off in Dortmund to keyboard out on the plane, tapping away to answer your questions.

In today’s mailbag we start with the Blades and move on to Bristol City’s latest recruit, Mike Duff’s midfield conundrum, Sunderland hypotheticals, Charlton's summer business and much more.

Let’s go…

Sam asks:

The Blades takeover seems to be taking a bit of time, so looks like frees and loans are the only option until later in the window.

The consistent links are Callum O'Hare, Sam McCallum [now signed], Kieffer Moore, and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi. Good signings? What might they add? What might they mean (finally dropping the 3-5-2!)? And do you think, with additions like those, Sheff United have enough of a squad to start the season on a decent footing?

Yes, if those links are true, and if Blades are restricted to frees and loans, then Moore, O’Hare, Rak-Sakyi and McCallum would be great additions within that context.

What might those players add?

Kieffer Moore: an excellent target man who also offers more outside of aerial duelling and grunt work. He can finish with both feet and is horrible to deal with as a target for quality crosses… looks like he’s close to moving to Hull though, is Oli Mac still available?

Callum O’Hare: When a technical, creative player is also among the hardest working, it makes them easy to love. That’s the case with O’Hare, who appears to have rare energy reserves compared to most #10s - able to play at 100mph in and out of possession, with quality. Can he stay fit for a whole season and be consistently available for selection? At Championship level, it’s really the only question mark for a team like Sheffield United.

A burst of high-profile goals suggested an improvement in his finishing, which had previously been a notable weakness - a strange lack of composure, technique and ball-striking ability from such a talented attacking player. Then again, perhaps he traded those skills in for exceptional energy, movement, and ability to receive, dribble and pass the ball with quality and at speed. He’s also fairly system-agnostic - can thrive as a #10 in a 3-4-1-2 with wing-backs outside him and strikers in front of him, or in a 4-2-3-1 or similar, where he’d likely drift wide to combine with wide forward.

On paper, there’s a nice-looking midfield to be built with a top-quality screener (Arblaster?), Gus Hamer involved in all parts of the pitch, and Callum O’Hare operating in the final third as a creator and presser.

Jesurun Rak-Sakyi: it’s always frustrating when a player of such skill and quality has a year under wraps, neither being brought onto the pitch by Palace, nor let off the leash on loan. But let’s be clear: in 2022/23, Rak-Sakyi was a phenomenal League One wide forward. He brought 1v1 dribbling quality, creative passing and goal threat, all while showing a good understanding of tempo, showing impressive football IQ. Logic would dictate that such a player could step up to the Championship, especially if he has improved further over the last year, with Premier League coaching and facilities, not to mention Ebere Eze and Michael Olise to learn from.

Sam McCallum: (wahey, you’ve signed him!) but at this stage, I think it’s fair to say that McCallum is yet to prove himself as a top-quality Championship full-back/wing-back, but he is certainly not a terrible option to have in the squad in a position of need for Blades.

The presence of Rak-Sakyi suggests a move away from 3-5-2, and it would be frustrating to see him unused or misused for tactical reasons. Equally, modern managers can build teams that morph in and out of possession and play in ‘asymmetrical’ ways, to the extent that someone like Rak-Sakyi could play a ‘teamsheet wing-back’ role while also getting on the ball in the right areas in possession. Whether or not Chris Wilder will look to approach his tactics in that manner, and whether or not Blades will have the round pegs in round holes needed to fulfil other tactical roles within a fluid system is another question altogether - but Rak-Sakyi would interpret the Jayden Bogle wing-back role very differently to Jayden Bogle.

As is generally the case with relegated Premier League teams, there is a group of players that seem likely to be sold or have the potential to cause a bit of a distraction. I don’t know enough about the individual cases of Ahmedhodzic, Souza, Slimane, Traore, but without those players (and without the above-rumoured additions), it’s a squad of 16 players, of which three are club-developed players and one is a youth player from the League of Ireland (Osula, Seriki, Brooks, Curtis). They haven’t exactly nailed down a senior role

Sheffield United have plenty of work to do, eight weeks to do it, and are operating within (reported) limitation of frees ‘n’ loans only…and/or waiting for a takeover.

I hope Chris Wilder can manage this situation…