Sheffield United transfer decision over Ben Godfrey, Louie Barry confirmed after "commendable" owner decision over January window
Sheffield United make Ben Godfrey, Louie Barry transfer decisions after "commendable" owner decision over January window
Sheffield United are in discussions with Atalanta and Aston Villa about terminating the disappointing loan deals of Ben Godfrey and Louie Barry next month, Chris Wilder has revealed. The pair joined the Blades in the summer, to some fanfare.
But the deals have not worked out, with Godfrey making just four appearances in a United shirt and Barry managing just nine. The Villa man has been managing a knee issue recently, returning to the Midlands for treatment, while Godfrey has been restricted to U21 appearances amid an ongoing personal issue.
The returns of both will free up some much-needed cash for the Blades to reinvest elsewhere but the decision raises more question marks about the decision to bring them in in a chaotic summer that also saw the decision to replace Wilder with Ruben Selles.
United are going down a different route in January, with AI ‘guru’ James Bord sidelined, and Wilder confirmed ahead of tomorrow’s meeting with Birmingham City: “Yeah, we've been in discussions with Atalanta about breaking and terminating the loan deal.
“We had a break in January, so we've advanced that. And Ben's no longer with us.”
Sheffield United transfer decision over Ben Godfrey, Louie Barry confirmed after "commendable" owner decision over January window
While there is no public word about the futures of United’s other loan players, Chieo Ogbene, Djibril Soumare and Tyler Bindon, ahead of January, Wilder has suggested that the COH Sports ownership group will be supportive of his recruitment plans in the new year.
“Louie Barry has got a bit of an issue with his knee, so we are in discussions about terminating Louie's loan as well,” Wilder said. “That's obviously disappointing for him but we need fit and healthy footballers as well, with the way we play.
“He was obviously in competition with Gus off that side, and Cal and Brooksy can play there. And financially we need to free some money up as well to use it elsewhere. Even though I have had really positive conversations with the board about their enthusiasm about backing my ambitions and our suggestions as a recruitment team to improve us in January.
“Which I think, in the position that we are in, is highly commendable, really. That they see a turnaround in the second part of the season. We need to show more of the form that we did in the last five or six games, more Stoke and more Leicester and more Sheffield Wednesday than West Brom.
“But we all know what happens in sport and sometimes it doesn't look how you want it to look. I've got to make sure that I'm on with that but they have been fully supportive, Stephen Bettis and the board, in terms of what we're trying to do.”