Alan Biggs: Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder can still be the exception in football's evolving transfer planning

Without having a member of that dying breed Sheffield United would not be the club they have become.

This is right at the heart of the Bramall Lane politics that will decide the future of Chris Wilder. And it encapsulates a wider battle within the game.

Neither the midweek game at Manchester United, played after this was written, nor the events leading up to Monday’s window deadline change anything in that regard.

If, as I believe, this Blades hierarchy wants to wrest more control of transfers then they are doing nothing exceptional or necessarily untoward in the way the game now operates.

The conundrum is that they could risk losing an exceptional manager by doing so.

It can be argued that Wilder should compromise; that a man whose fingerprints are all over the club‘s steerage should loosen his grip on the tiller.

Some people of influence would say it’d be for his own benefit as well as United’s; by reducing his workload and responsibilities amid the intense pressures of this Covid-compacted season.

And that new eyes and new connections could open up alternative markets.

This, after all, is how many clubs operate, with managers “consultants” to transfers rather than driving them. And, as a continental model, it can work with the right people in place.

But, at Bramall Lane, this would require Wilder no longer being Wilder. Bottom line, a change of manager - because this manager won’t change, and why should he?

It’s as fundamental as being about him and his style. And for four years out of four-and-a-half his style has worked. Spectacularly. It can do again - why doubt on the basis of one failed window when wage limits were at the root of it?

It’s not even about being “old school.” Wilder has successfully married the best of that, in terms of managers being in control, with the best of the new, sports science and data etc.

No, it’s just about identity and Wilder’s identity has given United their own and one to be proud of.

Chris Wilder discusses Ethan Ampadu's position following Frank Lampard's sacking by Chelsea

If he is a touch stubborn on the subject then he has earned the right.

This is not to denigrate Prince Abdullah whose public non-sacking guarantee was laudable. He’s a genuine football enthusiast who wants success for his club, while perhaps being unrealistic in evidently not pursuing new investment to bridge the wages gap.

I’ve no doubt, either, that the Prince’s network will, at various stages, have offered Wilder a range of signing options, some possibly outstripping top earners on around £50,000 a week.

Maybe he’s been dismayed to see names rejected. Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo will have been one.

But this misses the point about Wilder’s hands-on way of working; that his recruitment team’s expertise and, by and large, choice of targets has led to the team outgrowing the club.

As much as it is an issue that needs resolving, and everyone with the Blades’ interests at heart hopes it will be, I believe it is non-negotiable for the manager.

It’s not the first time he has thrown down the gauntlet to his employers, albeit privately rather than publicly on this occasion.

Nearly every Blades fan will pray for the same outcome.

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