Sheffield United boss has already addressed Billy Sharp return talk amid calls for Bramall Lane homecoming

Paul Heckingbottom has already addressed speculation about an emotional return to Sheffield United Billy Sharp, after cult hero Carl Asaba called for the Blades to look into bringing the club legend back to Bramall Lane. Sharp recently revealed his plan to return to England after his first season stateside with LA Galaxy came to an end.

While Sharp's immediate future is not yet clear - the Galaxy hold an option to sign him for a second season, with their new campaign kicking off early next year - he told reporters recently that, after spending some time in Los Angeles, he would return to England ahead of the next move in his career.

Sharp's departure from his hometown club United in the summer, along with Jack O'Connell and Enda Stevens, left a huge leadership void in the Bramall Lane dressing room, with the Blades going down a different route in a bid to replace them with young and largely unproven players in English football.

It is not an approach that was particularly successful in terms of results, with United picking up one win from their first 10 Premier League games and only tasting victory at the 12th attempt all season. Many of the senior players left behind, including John Egan, Ollie Norwood, Chris Basham and George Baldock, are out of contract next summer and speaking on the latest episode of his Blades Heaven podcast, former striker Asaba expressed his concern over that situation - and raised the prospect of a Bramall Lane homecoming for Sharp.

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"We are buying future products and you have to make sure that the right mentality is there to pass on," Asaba said. "If you lose Baldock and McBurnie, Egan and Bash, the new boys haven't got the mentality yet. They're very good players but we have to ensure the Sheffield United DNA stays in. There has to be talks about getting Billy Sharp back in, in and around the area and in the club.

"Not necessarily on the pitch but you need that mentality in there. If there's a loss and you walk in on a Monday, you bump into Billy Sharp and he'll give you a dirty look, let you know it's not acceptable. So would Tony Currie, those kind of people."

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Heckingbottom was keen to keep Sharp at Bramall Lane in the summer, with the player believing he was set to be offered a new deal before being informed he would be released. Asked last week whether he would consider bringing the 37-year-old back to the club, Heckingbottom smiled ruefully and said: "I think that ship's sailed."

Speaking late last month after the end of Galaxy's season, Sharp said: “I fully enjoyed it and hopefully I can keep getting many experiences like that. I’m going to stay around for a couple of weeks and some time off in in LA, which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, with the family. Then I’m going to head back to England and hopefully find out what my plans are for the future.

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“But I’ll be obviously keeping fit by myself and that is the hardest part. It’ll be strange because I’ll be going back and the football season in England will be in full flow, and I’ll be itching to be on the pitch because I came here with obviously having the off-season in England and I just started to feel good in my body."