Sheffield United on collision course with former loan star as Coventry City consider transfer move - report
Sheffield United on collision course with former loan star as Coventry City consider transfer move - report
Sheffield United could come face-to-face with another of their loan stars from last season in the second half of the current campaign, with league leaders Coventry City eyeing a deal to strengthen their own Premier League push. The January window is now open for business.
The Blades hope to have added to their squad by the time they return to Championship action later this month at Charlton Athletic, after their weekend home clash with Oxford United was postponed due to the weather.
This weekend sees a break from Championship action for the FA Cup, with the Blades hosting Mansfield Town at Bramall Lane. United are yet to add to their squad in the early days of the window but have sent Sam Curtis to Chesterfield and have made a number of other players available as Chris Wilder looks to rebalance the group at his disposal.
The focus is on signing the calibre of player that can replicate the influence that last season’s loanees had on the United side which won 92 points and reached the Championship play-off final, eventually losing in the dying minutes to Sunderland.
One of that group, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, subsequently returned to Crystal Palace after that game and was then loaned out again in the summer, joining Turkish side Çaykur Rizespor on another temporary deal.
But the suggestion is that his spell in Turkey may be cut short and the winger may be loaned out again to the Championship, with Coventry and Swansea City amid the sides said to be interested according to journalist Darren Witcoop.
Sheffield United on collision course with former loan star as Coventry City consider transfer move - report
A deal for Rak-Sakyi for any other club but Leicester City or Stoke City, the only sides the Blades have faced twice this season, would mean a reunion with the 23-year-old, who scored seven goals from 22 starts and 12 more sub appearances in the league for United.
The Blades are in the market for a wideman themselves, having cut short Louie Barry’s time at Bramall Lane following an underwhelming loan spell from Aston Villa.
Speaking last December about the winger, Wilder said: “We're looking to improve the players, whether they're our players or loan players. When Jes goes back at the end of the season hopefully he'll be a better player for the experience. That's what you try to do.
“We've been fortunate at Sheffield United that those players, whether it's Tommy Doyle or Morgan Gibbs-White or Dean Henderson, have been on a positive rise and that's what we're looking for for Jes.
“He’s come up to Sheffield, getting himself out of the comfort zone of his home and where he's been for all his life in South London. He’s come up the road and has to deal with new teammates and a new club and new supporters and a new manager.”