Blunt assessment of Sheffield United's contract situation as up to 19 players near summer exits

Sheffield United have put contract negotiations with their out-of-contract players on hold after Chris Wilder, the Blades boss, insisted: "There are more important things to get right." As many as 19 members of United's first-team squad are set to leave in the summer, as things stand, including their contingent of loanees and Cameron Archer, who will return to Aston Villa if the Blades are relegated.

But amongst that number are a number of key players from recent seasons, including striker Oli McBurnie and international defenders John Egan and George Baldock. United entered negotiations with McBurnie over extending his stay at United earlier in the summer but an agreement was not struck, with discussions over a new deal for Wes Foderingham also placed on ice after the January arrival of goalkeeper Ivo Grbic.

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The number of players nearing the end of their deals is either a big issue for the future or a huge opportunity for a clear-out, depending on your viewpoint and a huge summer looms for the Blades regardless of what happens in the final 11 games of the season. "I think there are more important things to get right," boss Wilder said of the contract situation ahead of this weekend's trip to Bournemouth.

"The biggest thing we tried to do was make sure that in the window we brought a couple in, which we did. Mason [Holgate] has not been available which has been a blow, but a self-inflicted one so there's no excuses there. Ben [Brereton Diaz] obviously has been a big miss for us but he'll be back for the weekend. I could have put him on the pitch on Monday but another few days training will put him in even better shape and he'll be back involved.

"Getting the young boys signed-up on long-term contracts was key for the future of the football club. And in that, I think the older players understand that at the moment, and I suppose they'll be weighing their options up. There are some players everyone talks about automatically re-signing but I'm not so sure or certain. They might have other things in the pipeline going into the summer. We put all that on hold, I don't think it's the right time to be talking about improved contracts or new contracts. For us, it's head down and onto the next game."