Best window ever? Sheffield United boss gets big transfer wish but Blades still weakened

Well, that wasn’t so bad after all, was it?

Another deadline day that promised so much but, ultimately, delivered so little. Bar a couple of loan moves involving youngsters, confirmation of the ticket details for the FA Cup replay against Wrexham was as exciting as it got in terms of official announcements from Sheffield United.

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Which is exactly how many fans, and boss Paul Heckingbottom, wanted it to be. The primary objective on deadline day was always to keep, rather than add; especially since the weekend, when star midfielder Sander Berge edged his huge frame closer to the Bramall Lane exit door.

Not of his own volition, it’s important to stress. But his absence from the first Wrexham game, Heckingbottom later confirmed, was at the board’s behest, as negotiations went on with top-flight clubs over his departure. United needed cash to settle their transfer debts and lift the EFL embargo; selling the family silver was one, and ostensibly the preferred, method.

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It seemed a matter of time. Then, as deadline day dragged on, something changed. Conversations at board level brought whispers from Bramall Lane sources of a different approach. Plenty of conversations, plenty of interest. But, crucially, no sales.

As this outlet later revealed, United turned down a bid from Everton of £25m plus add-ons for Iliman Ndiaye - an offer that can be considered as derisory because of the player’s ridiculous ability but also one that, to a club that has never sold a player for that much initial money before and are in dire straits financially, would have been mightily tempting.

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Although not officially confirmed, with any details regarding the Bramall Lane takeover guarded with levels of security Fort Knox would be content with, one suspects the prospective new owner had a say in the ‘closed-shop’ policy. Otherwise why risk agreeing a price of however many millions and then find one, or god forbid both, of the biggest on-field assets are no longer there?

Whether by accident or design, or a combination of both, both Berge and Ndiaye are United players until the summer at the very least. Credit, in my book, to the board for that. They haven’t got everything right but each action deserves to be judged on its merits and the easy approach would have been: sell asset, pay bill. The Sheffield United approach of old, one could say.

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Prince Abdullah has many criticisms levelled at him - some fair, some markedly less so - but cashing in on players can’t be one. Aaron Ramsdale was only reluctantly sold to Arsenal once he effectively went on strike; Berge has been linked with a move every window since relegation. There is also more than a sneaking suspicion that, under ownerships from years gone by, Ndiaye would be plying his trade elsewhere right now rather than preparing for this weekend’s trip to Rotherham United.

No doubt the duo’s continued presence at Bramall Lane is the fuel behind talk of January 2023 being ‘the best transfer window ever/in ages’, seen all over social media in recent times. Whether a product of the recency bias of not losing Berge, or the headiness of an actual, serious, big-money bid being rejected rather than gobbled up at the first opportunity as in previous years, let’s not forget here that United are arguably weaker coming out of the window than when they went into it.

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Reda Khadra’s time at Bramall Lane didn’t pan out how anyone would have wanted it but, had he remained, he would have played a part and been a real handful and option off the bench. Instead he returned to Brighton and then went to Birmingham and the replacement that Heckingbottom initially insisted was a prerequisite of his departure did not - and, because of United’s transfer embargo, could not - materialise.

The continued embargo is the only real downside, if that’s the right word, to Berge and Ndiaye remaining in situ and an alternative source for the funds to get out of it must now be found; possibly from the current owner, the new one, or some combination of both. The embargo timing has no doubt been complicated by the takeover - as it was put to me recently, would you pay for a new boiler just before selling your house? Perhaps not. But you sure as hell wouldn’t get away with not paying the gas bill.

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Granted, life under embargo hasn’t seemed to affect United too much on the field. Effectively 13 points clear of third place in the race for the Premier League, and with a game in hand to possibly extend that remarkable advantage, things couldn’t be going much better on the pitch.

Success made even more impressive, considering the off-field challenges Heckingbottom and Co. have faced. Now, let’s hope they are able to focus on matters on the pitch and see a remarkable job through.