Auston Trusty’s classy Jack O’Connell gesture after Sheffield United transfer

The former Arsenal defender officially became a Blade yesterday after the finishing touches were put to his move from the Gunners, with the USA international describing the chance to play in the Premier League as a dream come true. Trusty was shown around Bramall Lane and later handed the No.5 shirt, left vacant by O’Connell after his retirement earlier this summer.

Trusty also wore the number at Colorado Rapids and on loan at Birmingham City last year, where he won their player of the season award and was extensively scouted by the Blades before they made their move for what they described as “a significant” fee.

“From what I know, his number is close to the hearts of all the Blades fans here,” Trusty said after seeing his name and the No.5 on the back of United’s new home shirt for the first time. “I just want to put my own stamp on it and live up to his name that he built here, and the number that he built here.

“It’s an important number to the organisation and an important number to him, but it’s also an important number to me. So hopefully all the things align and I live up to it.”

Trusty’s knowledge of O’Connell’s stature at the club - the defender played his part in two promotions in the space of three years after arriving at the club before a devastating knee injury ended his career before it had arguably reached its peak - highlights both his predecessor’s legacy and also the homework Trusty has done on his new employers since news of their interest reached him.

The defender insisted that United’s approach, with wide defenders tasked with getting forward, would suit him right down to the ground and admitted he was “excited for all the challenges and everything that I can possibly do, for the team and for the squad.”

“Whether the running, the grittiness, the grind - I don’t care what it is,” he added. “I am willing to do it for the squad. I played [United] twice last year and I saw the team, I saw the mindset, I saw the atmosphere. All of the above. Even on the pitch I was thinking: ‘Dang, this is a real deal team’.

“So after seeing that success and going into the Prem it made things a lot more real when looking at opportunities. But there were more things than that that attracted me to Sheffield United.”