The scale of Sheffield United's summer of transition spelled out

The clue to the holes that need plugging is in the players who’ve left or are leaving. In Sheffield United’s case, huge holes and many of them. It’s almost a whole ship that needs refloating after going asunder in the Premier League.

For starters, a right back, a centre half, a midfielder. George Baldock, Chris Basham and Ollie Norwood leave very big shoes indeed. Make that two midfielders with attacker-from-deep James McAtee having returned to Manchester City. Oh, maybe three following John Fleck’s earlier move to Blackburn. Or will it be four with Vini Souza likely to be sold this summer?

It’s still one of the most talented departments of the side, boasting Gus Hamer, Oliver Arblaster and Andre Brooks. Except these are players very liable to attract bids. The Blades will need another sale on top of Souza and it isn’t certain to be the preferred option in Anel Ahmedhodzic.

So you see the extent of the jigsaw puzzle being pored over by Chris Wilder. Add a striker vacancy following the end of Ben Brereton Diaz’s successful loan…maybe two with Daniel Jebbison’s future still uncertain …and another defensive gap with Mason Holgate’s return to Everton.

How many pieces to add? Well, with two goalkeepers also needed to replace Wes Foderingham and the made-available Ivo Grbic, a conservative number would be eleven or twelve.

All of this partly governed by what United rake in. And amid time pressure to bed in a new squad before the start of next season. Certainly, Wilder will be insistent on avoiding the hopeless lack of groundwork that bedevilled his predecessor Paul Heckingbottom before the start of the last season. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail, as they say.

Despite all this, Wilder emits an air of excitement suggesting he and his new recruitment team not only know where to look but are well down the line in locating a host of new players. All of them strictly aligned to a Bramall Lane identikit forged by some of the hero Blades who have left.

Basham, Norwood and Baldock won’t be forgotten in a hurry. All genuine club legends. They’ve been more than very good players; they’ve steeped themselves in the place, embodying the Blades’ best values.

To repeat, very big shoes to fill and almost impossible to replace instantly in terms of their peak vintage. But their legacy is that they have also shown what’s possible and thereby made United an attractive club to join, one where players have a real chance to progress their careers. And the hunger to do that is exactly where the recruitment marker will be pitched.