‘Couldn’t have done much better’ - Sheffield United ace Ryan Oné enjoys stellar start to Lincoln City loan
Sheffield United loanee Ryan Oné is starting to make a real name for himself with League One promotion hopefuls Lincoln City
Sheffield United youngster Ryan Oné has earned rave reviews in his early months as a Lincoln City player following his late January loan move from South Yorkshire to the LNER Stadium.
The 19-year-old, who joined the Blades from Scottish side Hamilton Academical in September 2023, is starting to show signs of his full potential at senior level after being restricted to mainly cameo appearances from the bench at Bramall Lane.
One’ didn’t take long to endear himself to the Lincoln faithful, scoring on his debut from the subs bench during a 4-1 demolition of Plymouth Argyle and following that up 10 days later with another goal in his first start against Northampton Town where he was trusted to start on the wing despite mainly being recognised as a centre forward back in S2.
The Scottish Under-21 international registered his third goal in his most recent outing during a 4-0 win over Blackpool despite only being on the pitch for just three minutes after appearing as a late substitute.
BBC Radio Lincoln’s Michael Hortin has watched the Blades loanee in close quarters since his arrival and told the Sheffield Star: “I think he couldn’t have started any better really.
“One thing I can say about him is he’s taken his opportunity, away at Plymouth he scored on his debut from the bench.
“On his first full start he scored again at the LNER, and then he found the net against Blackpool. So it’s been good. It's been limited in what we’ve seen so far in terms of gametime, but what he’s done so far has definitely been noticeable.”
Oné is currently on a tally of three goals in five appearances, an impressive record given that he’s only been selected to start one of those matches so far.
Oné has the potential to make the jump up to Championship football
When discussing his strengths, Michael expanded: “I think so far he looks like a one in two striker. What I mean by that is he’ll get two chances and take one of them.
“Obviously it’s a limited amount of time. But the best compliment I can pay him is away at Plymouth, Lincoln were 3-1 at the time. They were going to win the game anyway and when he ran through you know you get a sense sometimes when someone’s going to finish it and he did it. It wasn’t a nervous scuff finish either, it was a confident finish.
“It was the same with Northampton when he cut inside and scored, and against Blackpool where he managed to score with an elite finish from an acute angle. He looks like a player that’s got a lot of composure. And great pace.”
Michael adds that he expects Oné to get plenty of gametime with the Imps between now and the end of the season as the club push for automatic promotion, but adds that he might have to bide his time in terms of starts and make the most of his appearances from the subs bench due to the strength in depth the club has in offensive areas at this moment in time.
Nevertheless, the signs are positive for Oné’s future, when asked if the striker could make the jump up to the Championship in the future, Michael added: “It certainly looks like it. I haven’t seen a lot of Championship football as I’m covering Lincoln.
“But he’s more than capable of League One and I don’t see a reason why he can’t make the jump up. Clearly he’s still a young player. He’s definitely got the pace and he’s certainly got the composure in front of goal.”
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Sheffield United’s current striker situation
Sheffield United are blessed with excellent depth in the final third of the pitch. Patrick Bamford in particular has hit the ground running this term since his free transfer after being released by Leeds United while Danny Ings, Tyrese Campbell and Tom Cannon are also options.
Ings, however, has only a few months remaining on his contract after joining from West Ham United. Meanwhile, Cannon hasn’t yet hit the standards that he showed during his time at Stoke City in the early part of last season.
Oné has only started two career matches at Championship level, but the fact he’s capable of helping out on the wing could prove beneficial next season if Chris Wilder looks to mix things up.