"Don't care..." - Vini Souza's Sheffield United transfer admission as Bramall Lane redemption arc continues

Vini Souza has insisted he “doesn’t care” about speculation linking him with a move away from Sheffield United earlier this summer after the Brazilian’s redemption arc continued this weekend. The midfielder endured a difficult debut season at Bramall Lane in the Premier League and was singled out as a boo-boy by a section of the United support.

But he has knuckled down since relegation and has been arguably United’s most impressive player during their unbeaten start to life back in the Championship, with a man-of-the-match display in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Watford completely deserved. The 25-year-old remained at Bramall Lane past the closure of the transfer window on Friday evening and although there are still some countries able to do business now, Souza is without doubt a key part of the Blades’ hopes of getting back into the top flight at the first attempt.

Asked about a summer of speculation that saw him linked with Fenerbahçe and even Italian giants AC Milan, Souza admitted: "It's true, I had so many clubs [interested] but this is for my family and I enjoy my friends here. We enjoy Manchester and Sheffield, every place. Because I know I have good relationships and every day off, we're together. I don't care about other clubs, if it happened or not. I really don't care."

Fellow midfielders Gus Hamer and Oliver Arblaster may have taken the headlines and plaudits with two goals apiece in United’s good start to the season, which saw them go into the current international break eighth in the table and just a point off the play-offs after their two-point deduction, but Souza has been a colossal presence himself in the middle of the park.

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“The Championship is crazy,” the Brazilian smiled. “It's my first time but the other guys talk to me and say we need to fight all game, so I know now. I'm tired but I just need to enjoy and fight every game. It's hard, I swear I'm very tired.

“I had cramp like five times [against Watford]! But it’s okay, it’s no problem. Every game in the Championship is hard, and if we keep playing like that then more victories will come. We’ve started very well but we need to fight more like today. If we play like this in the next games, then I’m sure we’ll win them.”