Our man Danny Hall looks back at a summer dominated by confusion and chaos in the transfer market at Sheffield United as it ultimately ends in deadline-day disappointment

It was mid-afternoon in The Star's city-centre office, on transfer deadline day, and a phone which had barely left its owner's hand since he woke up earlier that morning pinged twice in quick succession.

Sheffield United were in the process of selling Callum O'Hare to Wrexham, and the search was on for his successor. And over the course of countless messages to sources and contacts throughout the day, one name kept cropping up: Reyes Cleary.

Not the No.10 that Chris Wilder was looking for to replace O'Hare, but an intriguing option nonetheless. United had been in for him before; he was to hand in a transfer request later on deadline day. Well worth checking out.

Messages to two separate trusted contacts went in, were left on read for a while - not uncommon at the best of times, and especially on deadline day - before the replies came, within milliseconds of each other.

"Reyes close," one message began. The other, in response to whether the Barnsley man was even an option, was a little more direct. "No."

There have been a few moments this summer that threatened to sum up the madness that has been the Blades' transfer window, but that said everything about the chaos, confusion and contradiction United have muddled through this summer.

In the end, nothing happened. Eleven o'clock came and went without any activity and Wilder had already signalled as such when he sat down to face the press after the night's win over Bolton. He spoke diplomatically and will take on the challenge of getting the best out of the group he has been left with.

But walking away from Bramall Lane it was hard to shake the feeling that he has been hung out to dry by those above him. That he, the players and the fans had been let down by those at the top.

Teams with aspirations of success don't sell their best players on the final day of the window and not replace them; especially not ones who were already light on creativity after already selling two of their best. The manner of the late win over Bolton lifted the mood somewhat but Unitedites were sent quickly crashing down to earth.

Earlier that day the Blades had finally ended their long centre-half search, which began even before the summer did, with the loan signing of Liam Kitching. It ticked a lot of the boxes Wilder was looking for. Experience, winning mentality, balance to the heart of defence. The fact he was available on loan fitted the remit he was working with, too.

It would be unfair to class Kitching as a fifth-choice option but United missed out on at least four other targets earlier in the window before their man became available late on. The most recognisable was Harry Souttar, with the will-he-won't-he saga seeming to drag on for weeks. Interest in Nicolás Valentini, of Fiorentina, was more fleeting, with United desperate to keep it under wraps. They felt they had a good chance, too, before his agent stopped returning their calls. He eventually joined La Liga side Alaves instead.

And what about Anel Ahmedhodzic? The popular former defender was available, keen to return to Bramall Lane a year after leaving for Feyenoord. The Dutch side still owed United a big chunk of the fee. After we revealed the interest, fans chanted his name on the Kop.

But it didn't happen and that was the moment that alarm bells really started to ring about United's direction this summer. They were never going to pay £10m for Souttar but that asking price didn't automatically put them off, either. After starting the summer focusing on frees and loans, there was now cash to be spent. A deal, it seemed, could be done.

But suspicion began to grow about how serious they were about signing the former loan man, with one well-placed source describing United's bid as "lip service." We spoke to several people on both sides of the fence throughout the summer and the mixed messages were obvious, with the result a club seeming to drift along without any clear sense of direction from the very top. Looking back chief executive Stephen Bettis and other key figures did well to make the window as good as it was, considering the frustrating circumstances they were working under.

The money supposedly on the table for Souttar suddenly wasn't there for Ahmedhodzic. He instead went to Burnley; the owners subsequently decided to take back the budget. Back to frees and loans it was.

Joe Worrall was desperate to sign but United couldn't match Wrexham's permanent offer, of £2m, and he went to Wales. The Red Dragons, still a National League side when United played them as recently as 2023, then compounded the misery by taking United's best remaining player from them. He, Gus Hamer and Andre Brooks, both sold earlier this summer, contributed to 60 per cent of United's league goals last season. O'Hare travelled to North Wales with around 12 hours of the window left to secure a replacement and Unitedites - not for the first time this week, let alone this summer - were left questioning where their club went from there.

United's recruitment team had to move quickly, but so many of their targets earlier in the season, if they had money to spend, had gone elsewhere. Joe Gelhardt was one; Hull City would always have been favourites, given his previous loan there and Premier League football, but United would have liked to at least have been in the conversation.

O'Hare's move was confirmed at six o'clock and even then, as thoughts began to turn gradually towards that evening's Championship clash with Bolton Wanderers, the madness didn't end. Burnley made a bid for Harrison Burrows, which was rejected - although the expectation was that they would return, the understanding is that they didn't. Sighs of relief all round - another key sale could have seen the shoes off in the car park again.

A dramatic 3-2 win over Bolton offered some welcome relief from the gloom, a chance to focus on football for a few hours at least. Then Donovan's left foot won the game, Wilder raced down the tunnel to discover no good news on his phone and a summer of madness petered out with a familiar feeling of frustration.

The window is over, but the concerns are not.