Oli McBurnie opens up on Sheffield United mistakes as Blades’ missed opportunity highlighted at Hull City
Oli McBurnie has reflected on his time at Sheffield United and the mistakes he made, as his resurgence at Hull City highlights what the Blades may have let slip through their grasp last summer
Of all the poor decisions that Sheffield United made in a summer that saw them replace Chris Wilder with Ruben Selles and spend more than £19m on players with little return, letting Oli McBurnie slip through their fingers was amongst the most costly. The former striker was keen to return to Bramall Lane after a year in Spain.
A free agent after leaving Las Palmas, McBurnie even came in to train with United before Selles vetoed the prospect as he looked to put his own stamp on the squad he had inherited from Wilder.
McBurnie instead moved across Yorkshire to Hull City and the move has paid dividends for both parties. Seventeen regular-season goals, including one against United at Bramall Lane, and seven assists helped fire Hull into the play-offs while United finished a disappointing 13th.
McBurnie divided opinion amongst some Unitedites after his £20m arrival from Swansea City and while United were crying out for someone with his attitude and ability this season, there were also a few off-field controversies during his time at Bramall Lane.
In 2020 he was fined and banned for drink driving and a year later, a video emerged on social media showing him involved in a street fight. In 2022 he was found not guilty of assaulting a Nottingham Forest fan who had invaded the pitch after their play-off semi-final win over United on penalties.
But the move to Spain, and a settling down in his domestic life with fiancee Niamh and their daughter, have changed him. “It’s funny,” he admitted in an interview with the Telegraph ahead of Hull’s play-off double-header with Millwall.
“Because one of the most common phrases people used to say to me if they’d meet me would be: ‘I used to think you were a…’ – let’s not say what they used to say – ‘but you’re actually all right.’ I think back about how I was, and it’s just so different to how I am now.
“My heart was always in the right place, but the way I went about things was probably not the right way. I’ve always held my hands up whenever I’ve made mistakes and I live by them. I feel like I’m a better person now because of it.
“Naive is probably the best word [to describe how he was]. I think a lot of things happened. You have to remember I was a working-class kid from Leeds playing professional football in the Premier League. It’s an unbelievable thing to be doing, but you’re thrown into the deep end in terms of situations and then all of a sudden you’re supposed to be a role model.”
McBurnie moved to Spain after his Blades contract ran out, with the uncertainty over future ownership of the club forcing him to look elsewhere, and his year abroad saw him learn fluent Spanish. But he couldn’t keep Las Palmas in La Liga, with a clause in his contract upon relegation making him a free agent again.
“Before that, I was probably very selfish,” he admitted. “Everything was about what was best for me. Having people that depend on you will change you and really make you consider things before you do them.
“Going out there with my fiancée and my two-month-old at the time made me grow up quickly. I developed so much as a person, matured so much as a person and became a better person.”
“I don’t know if the opinion on me has changed from the outside. I’d probably say no, I’d probably say that brush will always be tarnished with you. I don’t think those things change. On the outside people still probably think I’m like how I used to be. But even when people used to think what they thought of me, I like to think I was always a decent person.”
His development has been shaped by personal grief. George Baldock, his former teammate at Bramall Lane, passed away in Greece, in the same year that his younger brother Xander was diagnosed with a form of blood cancer.
Xander, a former semi-pro player, was given the all-clear later that year but the concern offered McBurnie valuable perspective. “We were having a difficult time at Sheffield United that season and I hadn’t spoken to any of the boys about it,” McBurnie added.
“I was just dealing with it within me. I remember thinking, the lads think there’s so much pressure on these games and wanting to tell them. It wasn’t until after I said to the lads: ‘We think this is pressure, but this isn’t pressure ... it’s not a life-or-death situation.’
“I was in Spain when George died. Lunny [John Lundstram, a former teammate at United and now at Hull] was in Turkey and it brought us closer. Being so far away from everyone and having to go through that grieving process.
“All of those things helped me change and be more grateful for things in life. It’s easy to always want the next thing. Then something like that happens and you have to take a step back. I wish they never happened but you have to take the positive from even the most terrible situation.”
Now, McBurnie is only looking forward, with a place in the Premier League at stake and an outside shot of a place in the Scotland squad for this summer’s World Cup. United, meanwhile, can only look on enviously and wonder what might have been.