Harry Souttar's latest comments underline further why Sheffield United fans want Bramall Lane transfer return
Chris Wilder is looking to strengthen Sheffield United defensively this summer and few potential targets would receive a warmer reception than Harry Souttar after his influential loan spell the season before last.
Harry Souttar has not kicked a ball for Sheffield United since Boxing Day 2024, and absence has only made the heart grow fonder for many Blades fans when it comes to the towering defender. The Australian international is gearing up for another likely World Cup experience this summer.
And while international duty with his country dominates his short-term thinking, the summer is expected to bring more speculation about his club future as well. His Leicester City side are gearing up for life in League One after relegation last season.
Many of their big players, including Souttar and another former Blade in Hamza Choudhury, may yet move on this summer as the Foxes look to balance the books after a costly second successive relegation.
If Souttar was made available, and on the right sort of deal, then the likelihood is that United would be interested. Souttar returned to fitness towards the back end of the season, scoring against Millwall and then helping Leicester keep a rare clean sheet in victory away at Blackburn Rovers.
With United on the search for centre-half reinforcements this summer, after the departures of Tyler Bindon, Ben Mee and Leo Hjelde and with Mark McGuinness’s future uncertain, Souttar would be a popular target for Unitedites this summer.
United’s defensive record last season was their Achilles’ heel as they limped to a 13th-placed finish, despite scoring enough goals to put themselves in contention for a play-off spot. Derby County and Wrexham, who were both in play-off contention on the final day of the campaign, only scored one and three more respectively.
Hull City won promotion via the play-offs having scored just four more times than the Blades across the 46 games of the regular season. The issue for United came at the other end - of the bottom nine clubs, only crisis-hit Wednesday and Souttar’s Leicester conceded more than United’s 66.
United badly missed the presence, experience and character of the giant Aussie and his latest words, on international duty, only further underline the traits he possesses - and the ones Wilder wants more of heading into the new campaign.
“You’ve got three or four guys challenging for every position, and that’s only going to make the squad so much stronger,” he said. “The younger ones pushing the older ones, the older ones pushing back on the younger ones. It’s just going to keep those standards high and keep the training levels intense.
“No one’s guaranteed a spot, no one’s guaranteed a starting position. Every day in training, you’ve got to prove why you should be here and what it takes to be here.”
Souttar’s United career effectively ended on Boxing Day in 2024 when he suffered a serious Achilles injury, having previously battled back from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
“You’re going to go through ups and downs with injury and getting back,” he admitted. “There were times I was back training and then I’d have another little niggle or have to get another surgery, so you’re stopping and starting again.
“But I knew what it took to come back. I’d dealt with long-term injuries before. To me, this one [the Achilles injury] didn't really feel that that bad, although there was multiple surgeries and a few different injuries.
“I learned to dealt with long term injuries before that, so I knew what to expect going in. I knew what it took to get back - the hard work and the gym hours it took to come back. But life outside the pitch is really good. I've got a really good group around me in terms of family and friends, and obviously my fiancée as well. That side of things made it a whole lot easier.”