Sheffield United Transfers: Paul Heckingbottom hoping to step up business as January transfer window opens

United are now able to make permanent and loan additions to their squad again, and also ship players out to free up room – and remuneration – on their roster.

And Heckingbottom, who has seen star man Sander Berge linked with a move to Newcastle United, said: “We've been looking at players and that'll continue. This is where it starts to change.

“As a manager you'd love to get business done on January 1 but it's not always that straightforward.

“I don't see much need to change our squad, I’m really happy with the players. We're light in certain areas which we can see, and we need competition and strength, and a little bit of flexibility.

“At any point we can lose players, as you’ve seen, so we need that cover across different positions and the flexibility for someone to step in. These are the considerations.”

United are well-stocked in the forward department, with six senior strikers on their books and youngster Daniel Jebbison out on loan, but are very light at centre-half.

As things stand, Jack Robinson is the only senior central defensive cover for first-choice trio Chris Basham, John Egan and Ben Davies – and would have played against Middlesbrough this afternoon in Davies’ absence if the game had not been called off because of a number of Covid-19 cases in the Boro camp.

Speaking before the game was called off, Heckingbottom confirmed Davies would have missed it due to the personal reasons that saw him left out of the United squad that beat Fulham in their last game.

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