Inside Sheffield United's Sam Curtis move as Blades beat off stellar competition for promising starlet

Sheffield United are close to sealing the signature of highly-rated youngster Sam Curtis, after jumping to the front of the queue in the race for the Irish U21 international. The right-back was one of the hottest properties in Irish football and helped St Patrick's Athletic win the FAI Cup final late last year before his contract expired.

Curtis' rise to prominence saw him make his debut for his country's U21s last year, with St Pat's assistant Jon Daly describing him as "a great talent", adding: "He has an aggression in his game that you don’t really see in younger players. Quality-wise, he's been very good. He’s still learning the game and we’re hoping he keeps improving."

United officials now expect that development to take place at Bramall Lane. Curtis is not one of the two players first-team boss Chris Wilder hopes to seal before this weekend's FA Cup tie at home to Brighton and Hove Albion, with the youngster initially expected to join the Blades' U23 set-up. But there is real excitement about the player, with Wilder's coach and former Ireland No.2 Keith Andrews playing a big part in tempting Curtis to South Yorkshire.

The player himself also travelled to Sheffield to watch United's defeat to Luton Town on Boxing Day, in front of a big crowd at Bramall Lane, and is understood to be enthused by United's recent record of blooding young players. Academy graduates Will Osula and Andre Brooks both featured in that game while Femi Seriki, the U23s right back, was on the bench.

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Curtis turning 18 in December made the process of a move to England easier in terms of Brexit rules, with clubs including Manchester City and Newcastle United previously linked with a move for Curtis. City's approach was understood to involve placing Curtis with one of their feeder clubs around the world, but life at United will provide a much clearer potential pathway to the first-team. Right-back is also a potentially problem position for the Blades, with both senior stars Jayden Bogle and George Baldock out of contract at the end of the current campaign.

Young Curtis has also had a sounding-board with experience of what life at Bramall Lane is like, in the shape of Keith Treacy. The former Blades winger came across Curtis while doing some coaching work with youngsters at St Pat's and has previously told the Off the Ball podcast: "The sky’s the limit for that boy and as long as he keeps his head down and keeps himself out of trouble, he can go and be anything he wants to be."