John Egan opens up on Sheffield United exit as former captain savours unexpected Premier League return
The former Sheffield United captain has opened up on his difficult departure from Bramall Lane and the journey that has taken him back to the Premier League with Hull City
John Egan, the former Sheffield United captain, has admitted his Bramall Lane departure “did hurt” after he was released following an Achilles injury - before rebuilding his career and earning a fairytale return to the Premier League with Hull City.
Egan, now 33, frequently wore the armband for the Blades in the Championship and Premier League before the injury effectively brought his Bramall Lane career to an end. United, who had paid a club-record fee at the time to bring him in from Brentford, subsequently released him amid concerns over his future availability.
“To not be given a chance after one injury to carry on at the club did hurt me,” Egan said, in an interview with the Irish Independent.
But the end of one road was the start of another in East Yorkshire, via a spell at Burnley. Egan helped Hull into the Premier League via the play-offs at Wembley, despite the pre-season aim being to avoid relegation to League One, and they went into the international break eighth, suffering their first defeat of the league season at Newcastle United last time out.
In another world Egan could probably still be at United, doing a job both on and off the field at a time when Chris Wilder believes traits such as character and personality are more important than ever.
But just like in the case of Oli McBurnie, who was in United’s grasp last summer before then-boss Ruben Selles turned him down and he joined Hull instead, they can only look on from a distance and wonder what could have been.
For his part Egan holds no animosity towards United. He returned to Bramall Lane last year to play in Chris Basham’s testimonial game and still lives locally. Speaking before returning to South Yorkshire last year with Hull, he admitted: “I’ll always be a Sheffield United fan.”
But he is a Hull player now, having recently signed a new deal along with McBurnie and another former Blade in Regan Slater, and making the most of an unexpected second chance in the Premier League.
He has flourished under Sergej Jakirovic and the experience of the ups and downs of life at United is standing him in good stead. And perhaps, before they parted ways before the break to link up with Ireland and Scotland respectively, McBurnie and Egan allowed their minds to wander back to 2019/20.
Wilder's newly-promoted side, with both men involved, took the division by storm and threatened to gatecrash the European places before Covid brought the season to a halt. When football returned behind closed doors, much of the magic of those big occasions had disappeared.
It is perhaps why, six long years on and after everything that has happened in between, Egan is determined to savour his unexpected return to the top flight. United, meanwhile, can only currently dream of doing the same.