England hero Dan Burn's memorable World Cup debut revives big Sheffield United transfer 'what if?' 10 years on
Long before he was starring for England on the biggest stage, Dan Burn was the subject of repeated bids from Sheffield United. A decade on, the Blades' forgotten pursuit looks even more remarkable. Danny Hall remembers it
As the clock ticked past four in the morning in the UK and giant Geordie Dan Burn celebrated another unforgettable night in an England shirt, some hardy Sheffield United supporters who had stayed up overnight may have found themselves wondering how differently history could have unfolded.
The Newcastle man was one of England’s heroes as they stunned the Azteca to beat Mexico 3-2 and reach the last eight of this summer’s World Cup, despite finishing the game with 10 men after Jarell Quansah was sent off for a horror challenge on Jesus Gallardo.
Burn, the 6ft 7in centre-half, was introduced as part of a tactical switch to try and see out the victory, with England setting up a quarter-final clash with Norway after keeping the Mexicans at bay.
It was another fairytale moment for a career which blossomed late and eventually saw him move to his boyhood club Newcastle, who he helped end their long wait for a domestic trophy and qualify for the Champions League.
But things could have been different had, 10 years ago, United been successful in one of their many attempts to bring him to South Yorkshire. Nigel Adkins was the man in charge at the time and Burn was in the Championship with Fulham.
In a scene reminiscent of Alan Partridge trying to get the attention of his new best friend Dan Moody, United made three unsuccessful bids to sign Burn after a planned emergency loan switch broke down following an injury crisis at Craven Cottage.
One of the last, submitted before the January transfer deadline, was described as a six-figure sum by Adkins at the time. Their hopes were raised when Fulham, under a transfer embargo at the time, agreed a deal for Michael Madl from Sturm Graz.
“There’s been lots going on behind the scenes,” Adkins said at the time. “Lots of conversations. Whether we can get what we want to do across the line, we’ll have to wait and see. There’s a domino effect, you always see it. That’s what happens everywhere.”
United hoped that Fulham would have to sell a player to make room for Madl, with Burn one of the players potentially declared surplus to requirements by the then-Fulham manager - one Slavisa Jokanovic.
But it didn’t materialise and United eventually plugged their defensive gap by instead signing defender Alex Baptiste on an emergency loan from Middlesbrough in March.
When Burn did eventually leave Craven Cottage, on a free transfer in the summer of 2016, he joined Wigan, fresh out of League One. The Blades had finished 11th and Adkins was sacked not long after a forgettable season had come to a welcome conclusion.
A decade on Burn was selected for the World Cup ahead of Sheffield’s Harry Maguire, and made his debut in the tournament in what he described as a “World Cup match that will go down in history”.
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget that night,” he added. “The stadium, the occasion, playing against Mexico, listening to the national anthem with 100,000 people was surreal. A crazy game, so just really, really proud of the lads.