Sheffield United: Blades warned over Chris Wilder's future as former chairman says "any club in Europe" should be looking at him

Kelvin Thomas worked with the current Blades boss at Oxford United, before linking up with him again at Northampton Town.

Wilder won promotion with both clubs, before joining his boyhood club United and taking them from League One into the Premier League in the space of three years.

And Thomas, in an interview with the Telegraph, compared Wilder with the likes of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp.

“People say he’s an old-fashioned football man,” Thomas said.

"That is to underestimate him completely.

“Chris gets tarred with that nonsense because of his Yorkshire background.

"What he expects out of players is very similar to what Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp demand.

“That’s not an old-fashioned trait.

"In fact, as a manager he’s incredibly forward thinking, always encouraging his staff to ensure they are at the forefront of the industry.

“Any club in Europe should be looking at Chris Wilder.

"If I was chairman of Sheffield United I’d be expecting the call at any time.”

“I think as a chairman of a lower-league club you know there are one of two conversations you are eventually going to have with your manager,” Thomas added.

“Either you have to part, or someone else comes in for them. With Chris I always knew it was going to be the latter.”