Sheffield United boss makes Ivo Grbic admission ahead of uncertainty over goalkeeper's future

Ivo Grbic has reacted well to losing his place as Sheffield United’s first-choice goalkeeper, Chris Wilder has revealed, after the Blades boss conceded that the Croatian’s Bramall Lane transfer “has not gone as well as all of us would have liked.” The 28-year-old has watched United’s last two games from the bench after Wes Foderingham was restored between the posts.

Grbic has failed to convince many Unitedites with his displays between the posts since arriving from Atletico Madrid in January, with his manager losing patience with him following another unsure display in a 4-1 home defeat to relegation rivals Burnley. Foderingham has subsequently conceded nine in the two games that followed but looks set to retain his place for the remainder of the season - starting with this weekend’s home clash with Nottingham Forest.

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That development would raise further question marks over Grbic’s future in South Yorkshire, with the Blades’ relegation back to the Championship already confirmed. Grbic is under contract at Bramall Lane for three more seasons after the end of this one, while United are known to have been admirers of Rotherham United’s Viktor Johansson - available for a bargain fee this summer - in the not-so-distant past.

“Yes, he's okay,” said Wilder on Grbic after losing his place. “Matt Duke deals with the goalkeepers personally and from a mentality point of view. Ivo understood the situation, he understood that he came to help and he's not helped as much as he'd have liked to have done. I've got to say fair play to the boy, he's not coming in and slamming doors or pointing fingers or whatever.

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“And I think that's quite refreshing because it's quite easy to chuck your arms up in the air and point fingers, and not accept responsibility. It's quite easy to do that but first of all, you've got to look in the mirror and make sure your performance is spot on. As someone once told me, when you're pointing one finger at someone else there are three coming back at you, so make sure you've got no opportunity to open it up to criticism going the other way.”

Grbic spent three and a half years in Madrid as back up to one of the best goalkeepers in the world, in the shape of Jan Oblak, and made only 14 appearances for Diego Simeone’s men at senior level. He played 28 times in a loan spell at Lille in 2021/22 but Wilder insisted that United did the right amount of due diligence on Grbic before sanctioning the move, for a fee in the region of £2.5m.

“We did our homework on him. It was a situation where we all, supporters as well, talked about it,” the United chief added. “We needed strength in that department, competition and whatever. We did due diligence on it, it's just unfortunate that it's not gone as well as all of us would have liked it to have gone. Wes is playing now, he'll have our full backing and hopefully, he can produce some more good performances.”