"Not good enough" - Ruben Selles makes brutally honest Sheffield United transfer admission as wait goes on
"Not good enough" - Ruben Selles makes brutally honest Sheffield United transfer admission as wait goes on
A brutally honest Ruben Selles has admitted that Sheffield United’s transfer process in this summer transfer window “has not been good enough” - and accepts his share of the responsibility for that. The Blades are crying out for reinforcements, but none are thought to be likely ahead of this weekend’s trip to Swansea City.
United already needed centre-half reinforcements before agreeing a deal to sell Anel Ahmedhodzic to Feyenoord earlier this month, without a replacement already secured. The departure of Kieffer Moore later that week weakened United further and although few were sad to see Ivo Grbic leave again on loan, his switch to Fatih Karagümrük did at least free up some more space on United’s wage bill.
But they have been unable to take advantage so far, with two defeats in their first two games of the season heaping the early pressure on boss Selles. In truth he has been hung out to dry a little by those above him, with no prospect of further reinforcements before this weekend’s trip to South Wales.
“I think our process has not been good enough; that I think is obvious,” Selles admitted in his pre-Swansea press conference, speaking the day after last night’s Carabao Cup exit away at Birmingham City. “In the beginning we talked about reinforcement with three players and now, with Kieffer and Anel gone, that is five.
Ruben Selles makes brutally honest Sheffield United transfer admission as wait goes on
“We have not been able to bring anyone in for different circumstances, and everyone has part of that [blame]. I will accept my part of it but it's everyone part of the process. There’s not going to be any update for the weekend.
“Tomorrow at 12 o’clock [Friday] is the deadline and no-one is ready for a medical or to support us. That is what it is. We’re not going to make exuses, we’re going to focus on what we can do. We know we have players who can go on Saturday and make the difference, so I’m going to focus on them from now until after the game.”
One of the delays has been the process of trying to offload one of their AI-identified wildcard signings, to free up space amongst their four slots for players who do not automatically qualify for a work permit.
That is the case with Malmo’s Nils Zatterstrom, with Selles confirming The Star’s recent story that the Blades are looking to move on a player to allow another - understood to be the young Swede - to come in.
“There is one of [issues],” Selles confirmed. “We knew we don’t have any GBE spots and we need to make room if we want to sign someone who needs a GBE. That will be a little part of it.”
Asked if he felt let down by the support from his new employers going into the new season, the Spaniard - perhaps reflecting on his previous experiences at Reading - paused before replying: “I just feel I have a task to do. I have been in worse situations than this one and I need to be brilliant and my team need to be brilliant to be competitive in 48 hours.
“I’m not going to waste my time feeling sorry for myself or if things could be different, it is what it is. Whatever is thrown at me I deal with it. I need my team fully supported on Saturday by our fans.
“I need everyone on the pitch to be fully competitive and when the difficult times come we will be there, trying to fight for every single inch. That’s what I really need, rather than feeling sorry for myself.”