‘Happy to be here’ - Jairo Riedewald discusses Sheffield United future
Jairo Riedewald faces an uncertain future at Sheffield United as he approaches the final months of his contract
Jairo Riedewald says he is happy at Bramall Lane and loving life in Sheffield as he addresses questions around his long-term future in the Steel City.
The former Crystal Palace midfielder joined Sheffield United on a free transfer in October following the expiration of his contract with Belgium heavyweights Royal Antwerp.
It made him the first signing of Chris Wilder’s third stint as manager, with the 29-year-old initially penning a short-term deal until January. On 15 December, that deal was lengthened until the end of this campaign, with the option to extend further.
Riedewald discusses Sheffield United future
“So I signed six months with an option to extend. So my deal is up in the summer,” explained Riedewald.
“I don’t know, right now I’m focusing on games. I’m happy to be here. I love it in Sheffield, a great city, great football club. So we’ll see in the summer what’s there for me.”
Riedewald has made 18 league appearances for the Blades since joining. He’s scored three goals so far, with the most recent coming in a 2-1 defeat to Norwich City. The Dutchman also registered goals against Leicester in November and Stoke City in December which resulted in vital away wins.
The three-time Netherlands international has featured in the last four matches since returning from a hamstring injury and is expected to play an important role in the run-in.
Riedewald targets strong end to the season
When discussing the team’s improvement since the start of the season, Riedewald told The Star: “It all comes down to how bad we wanted it. We needed to turn things around, win games, win football matches and to do that you need the whole group.
“If you are playing, starting, on the bench, or sometimes left out or injured. You need the whole group, the whole football club, even the fans to achieve some sort of success and win football matches.
“And I think that’s what we’ve been doing since October and hopefully we’ll finish this season strong.
“We have everything to play for, obviously everybody knows we’re playing for the play-offs, that’s the goal for the club and it’s up to us. It’s been up to us for the last three or four months and nothing changes. We need to win football matches and see what the outcome will be.”
Sheffield United currently sit in 13th position with nine matches to go. They are eight points behind Wrexham, who have a game in hand, heading into the business end of the season.
However, it’s worth noting that the Bramall Lane outfit still have games to come against many of the side’s in and around the play-off picture, including Wrexham, Birmingham City, Bristol City and Hull City among others.
Ahead of the Steel City derby last month, Sheffield United sponsors, Midnite, unveiled a giant 4m sq chip butty to celebrate the beloved chip butty anthem that fans sing at the start of every home match. As part of the campaign, Midnite has also donated hundreds of chip butties to local homeless shelters and food banks in the Sheffield area, with Sheffield United players Mark McGuinness and Jaïro Riedewald personally delivering a portion of the butties.