Sheffield United could still cash in on "expensive" forgotten man after curious transfer admission

Sheffield United could still receive some return for their investment on Ismaila Coulibaly in the summer, after the Malian midfielder left Bramall Lane last week. The 23-year-old has made the move to Allsvenskan side AIK on loan until July, with the aim of playing regular football after finding opportunities limited since returning to United in 2022.

Coulibaly has linked up again with former Sarpsborg teammate Thomas Berntsen, now AIK's sporting director, at Nationalarenan, with Bernsten confident that Coulibaly "in top form will be able to enrich the team in all six offensive positions." The midfielder's current deal is set to expire in the summer but The Star has been told that United hold another option in their favour to extend it further.

Speaking from AIK's training camp in Marbella ahead of their Allsvenskan season opener against Västerås on April 1, Berntsen told Fotbollskanalen: "I am very happy. Ismaila is a good player that competes with many others. He is useful, at a good age and motivated. It will be good. He is an all-round player who is good in the air, good with the ball and he scores goals. It will be exciting to see where he plays. Whether he plays is entirely up to him. We have a very good dialogue with Sheffield, so if Ismaila likes it, it may very well be that he stays longer."

Bernsten revealed that the loan deal does not contain a purchase option and described Coulibaly, who spent two seasons on loan with United's sister club Beerschot before moving to Bramall Lane for work permit reasons, as "not a cheap player". The AIK chief also believes that the midfielder would have played more for United if he had not suffered ill-timed injuries which have hampered his progress.

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Bernsten believes Coulibaly, at his peak, can be "among the absolute best" players in the Allsvenskan - the level that Benie Traore excelled at to earn his move to United, before moving quickly out to Ligue 1 side Nantes during the last transfer window. "But he has been away for a long time, so we have to talk a little about it," Bernsten added. "He has had a back injury that has kept him out.

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"He has been in full training with Sheffield. And I think he would have played a lot in the Championship and maybe even in the Premier League for Sheffield if he hadn't been injured. It is possible that I set the bar a little too high, but he was very good during the years he played in Belgium. Then he was rumored to quite big clubs." Coulibaly's only appearance in a Blades shirt this season came in the League Cup penalty shootout defeat to Lincoln City, and his only appearance in a matchday squad under current boss Chris Wilder was as an unused substitute in the 4-0 FA Cup third-round win at Gillingham last month.