Sheffield United: Blades would prefer to send another young star to Beerschot as Femi Seriki completes switch

Sunderland appeared destined to secure the teenager’s signature after he watched them play a pre-season friendly against Hull City earlier this summer, with United manager Slavisa Jokanovic thought to have approved the prospective move.

Doncaster Rovers and Burton Albion have also expressed an interest in hiring Jebbison for the remainder of the season, with Jokanovic’s former Chelsea team mate Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in charge of the latter.

Hasselbaink’s presence at the Pirelli Stadium also placed Albion in a strong position to recruit Jebbison, given that he would benefit from working under someone who was among the most clinical finishers in world football during his own playing career.

However, neither Albion nor Sunderland are able to meet the fee United want the 18-year-old’s admirers to pay in order to borrow him for the League One campaign. That has led to suspicions some senior figures at Bramall Lane are attempting to steer Jebbison towards Antwerp, where Beerschot are based. As fellow members of the United World project - an umbrella organisation established by United owner HRH Prince Abdullah bin Musa’ad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud - Peter Maes’ employers would almost certainly not be required to hand over the same amount in order to acquire Jebbison. If they were, UW staff could choose to filter it back into the system which is designed to benefit all of the teams involved.

After making his debut when United’s relegation from the Premier League was confirmed last season - a month before the fixtures were fulfilled - Jebbison became the young person to score on their full debut in the competition’s history when he netted the only goal of the game during a win at Everton.

Despite rating him highly, Jokanovic confirmed a period away from United might accelerate Jebbison’s development after confirming he could find it difficult to accommodate him on a regular basis given the number of attackers at his disposal.

“Jebbo is an important product from our academy,” Jokanovic said, following Tuesday’s EFL Cup victory over Carlisle. “This is why we are thinking about the possibility of loaning Jebbo.

“His quality is there but he needs to play games and I don’t know if he can get the space. I believe he can still go out.”

Despite confirming Lys Mousset could be absent for up to six weeks after injuring a hamstring during last weekend’s defeat by Birmingham City, Jebbison is unlikely to start Saturday’s trip to Swansea City. Both Billy Sharp and Oli McBurnie completed 45 minutes of football during the first round tie, while Rhian Brewster also scored his first goal since completing a £23.5m transfer from Liverpool against the visitors from Cumbria.

Both Sunderland and Albion will attempt to broker a compromise with United as they continue their respective pursuits of Jebbison. However, unless a deal can be reached, Beerschot could well be his next destination, with Femi Seriki yesterday completing his loan to the Olympisch Stadion.