Sheffield United boss makes Gus Hamer transfer vow as interest welcomed in Leeds United target

Ruben Selles makes Gus Hamer transfer vow as Leeds United interest in Sheffield United man welcomed

Of all the subjects covered during Ruben Selles’ first meeting with the local and national media since being confirmed as Sheffield United’s new manager last week, the revelation that he is keen to keep hold of officially the best player in the Championship was not the most earth-shattering. But it will be welcome news to Unitedites who are concerned they may have seen the last of Gustavo Hamer in a red and white shirt.

The Brazilian-born Dutchman was named the second tier player of the year last term but the Blades were condemned to at least another season at that level after a painful defeat in the play-off final to Sunderland just over a month ago. That only intensified talk about Hamer’s future, especially with Leeds United understood to retain the interest that saw them make a cheeky offer last summer.

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United rightly turned that down at the time but may be less inclined to do so this time around, with the player turning 28 years old yesterday and ticking into the final two years of his contract come July 1. It should take a big offer to even tempt United to do business with their key man, who scored 10 goals and added eight assists in the regular season and set up Tyrese Campbell’s goal at Wembley to leave Blades fans dreaming of long-awaited play-off glory.

Hamer is not the only player to have been linked with moves elsewhere this summer, with speculation continuing about the futures of Vini Souza and Anel Ahmedhodzic. West Ham United have been credited with interest in Sydie Peck while Campbell has confirmed admirers in the top-flight after his impressive first campaign in front of goal at Bramall Lane.

Ruben Selles makes Gus Hamer transfer vow as Leeds United interest in Sheffield United man welcomed

Asked if he had yet had chance to speak to such players, Selles said: “The way we want to do it is for the people in the club to have those specific conversations with the agents. Obviously we work as any other club.

“I didn't want to connect with them because I think they went on holiday quite late because of the play-off final and they already know that we are here and we will have the time to assess situations and have conversations. I have been in contact with a couple of them already and as a club we have a clear strategy of what we want from that.

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“I think it's a really good sign that you have players with already some interest, because that means you have really good players for the level and that's what we want. We want to have really good players and to achieve the very best in the season.

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“And for that, you need to fight sometimes, and that's what we're going to do. For me, all the names you said are players we want to come with and obviously if something happened there, we will try and find the proper replacement for them. But right now, the ideal outcome is to keep them all together.”

On the future of Hamer specifically, Selles was more unequivocal. “He’s a Sheffield United player and I want him to be a Sheffield United player when the market closes,” the Spaniard said. “Obviously I cannot control what happens in the future because the market is so fluid and dynamic.

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“But my intention is to keep him as one of our key players. He has been key for us and for the team and if we can keep him that will mean we are in a really powerful place to achieve our target.

“We are in a good place, we have a really good squad. We have assessed the squad, we have a really good youth system with some good players and we have room to get a couple of players that can improve our levels as well.”

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