Leading figures at Sheffield United identify key trait as they prepare for crucial transfer window

Although he has refused to discuss his lists of wants ahead of next season’s Premier League campaign, sources with knowledge of the situation last night told The Star that Paul Heckingbottom should be targeting a bare minimum of “five or six” new signings in order to give United the best possible chance of survival.

Having met with members of both United’s hierarchy and representatives of United World in Geneva earlier this week, ostensibly to discuss budgets, recruitment strategies and players he has identified, Heckingbottom is scheduled to brief assistants Stuart McCall, Jack Lester and chief talent spotter Paul Mitchell on the decisions which were taken following those talks before beginning the process of reprofiling his squad in earnest.

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But with the budget set to be placed at his disposal set to be among the smallest in England’s top-flight - possibly the smallest depending upon the outcome of the Championship play-offs - Heckingbottom knows everyone who arrives at Bramall Lane during the forthcoming window must prove a success.

That realisation has prompted the former Barnsley, Leeds and Hibernian chief to place as big an emphasis on character as calibre; meaning that while he is not averse to hiring players from overseas, the majority of his work is likely to take place on these shores.

“We want to build on what we’ve already got, not start all over,” Heckingbottom said. “One of the things we’re really proud of is the environment, the culture that we’ve been able to create behind the scenes.”

“Obviously we want good players,” he added. “That goes without saying. But we want good people too.

“If you bring in someone who is playing here, then because of the contacts we’ve got, we can speak to people about them - ask what are they like? That becomes a little more difficult if they’re abroad. Not impossible. But more difficult, yes.”

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A central defender, attacking midfielder and potentially a new goalscorer are expected to feature among the priority positions Heckingbottom handed to other delegates at Tuesday’s get-together in Switzerland. UW, the organisation United owner Prince Abdullah bin Musa’ad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud uses to oversee his sporting interests which also include Beerschot and Chateauroux, has hired a number of technical staff in recent years to monitor possible acquisitions in Europe and Scandinavia. But while proving effective in Belgium and France, their work has so far delivered limited benefits for United. Sander Berge was purchased following a recommendation by Jan van Winckel, now an advisor at Al-Ahli Saudi, who has since left United’s board. Ismaila Coulibaly, whose CV has UW’s fingerprints all over it, only made a minor impact at Bramall Lane after returning from a two year loan spell at the Olympisch Stadion. If Prince Abdullah retains control of United, and keeps them under the UW umbrella, this might change in time. But Heckingbottom, having guided his side to automatic promotion from the Championship, knows everyone who comes in over the next few months must hit the ground running. In order to establish a foothold at the pinnacle of the English game, United must deliver immediate results.

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“There’s personality in that dressing room, some big ones, really good ones,” Lester, Heckingbottom’s head of player development, said. “That’s something we want to maintain. So it’s important you don’t just look at what someone can do on the pitch. You’ve got to consider what they are like away from it as well.”

Speaking before United completed their schedule for 2022/23 with a win over Birmingham City, Heckingbottom acknowledged his shopping list could change if either Berge or Iliman Ndiaye, who is also about to enter the final year of his contract, are lured away. With his trademark diplomacy, Heckingbottom has already let his employers know that selling either would be a mistake, hinting that both would be beyond his financial reach if he was looking to capture them now. McCall, the former Scotland, Rangers, Everton and United midfielder, has been effusive in his praise of Berge after being asked to combine his role as Heckingbottom’s number two with providing tailor-made coaching for those in United’s engine room.

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“He’s driven,” McCall noted, ahead of the visit to St Andrews. “He wants to get to the top and be the best that he can be. That’s a quality all of the lads here have got. And it’s so important. You have to be ready to give everything, every single day, if you want to get along here.”

Given the downward pressure on his budgets, only one of the two permanent signings Heckingbottom has made since being appointed in November 2021 has commanded a fee. With United guaranteed to receive nearly £200m over the course of the next three seasons even if they don’t record a single win next term, that should change moving forward. Unlike, after using the loan market intelligently last summer, the attributes he will prioritise when considering possible new arrivals.

“One of the things that was so important for us,” he said, reflecting upon United’s climb out of the second tier, “Was how the lads responded in difficult moments. That’s something we always want to know about people: How do they react when things aren’t going well? Do they do it in the right way? Or do they sulk and moan? The last two, that’s the type of person we don’t want. We want strong characters as well as really good players, because they’ll fit in with what we’ve got.”

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