Sheffield United believe they are close to unveiling another new signing

Wilder, the United manager, has held positive talks with the former United goalkeeper after agreeing a fee with the south coast club.

Ramsdale has emerged as one of the most promising young players in the country since swapping Bramall Lane for The Vitality Stadium three years ago and made it plain he wanted to return north after his present employers were relegated from the Premier League last season.

With a sell-on clause and the structure of the deal which took Ramsdale to Dorset enabling United to whittle down Bournemouth’s asking price to around £10m, Wilder is now focusing on trying to strengthen their options in midfield and attack, where Club Brugge’s Emmanuel Dennis and Darwin Nunez of Almeria have been linked in recent days.

Dennis, aged 22, has been capped twice by Nigeria since heading to the Jan Breydel Stadium and has impressed for the Belgian’s in European competition. Like Dennis, who represents Uruguay at international level, the former Zorya Luhansk striker is known for both his finishing ability and rapid turn of pace. United boast a strong network of contacts in the Jupiler Pro League - with Jan van Winckel, owner HRH Prince Abdullah bin Musa’ad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud’s most trusted football advisor, acting as director of the Belgian Professional Football Coaches organisation and proving instrumental in Sander Berge’s transfer to South Yorkshire from Genk midway through last term.

United are also known to be admirers of Reading’s John Swift and Nottingham Forest’s Matty Cash. But with the Covid-19 pandemic forcing Wilder to lower his recruitment budget, they could be forced to offload some of those on the periphery of his starting eleven before completing any more significant pieces of business. John Lundstram will be allowed to depart if he fails to agree a contract extension while uncertainty continues to surround the future of Lys Mousset, despite the centre-forward’s insistence he wants to remain with United.

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