Sheffield United handed contract warning after Liverpool linked with transfer swoop for Blades starlets

Sheffield United have received another timely reminder of the importance of tying up their most promising starlets to long-term deals after two were linked with Premier League giants Liverpool. The Blades have prioritised their young players in terms of contracts of late, with the likes of Andre Brooks, Will Osula and Louie Marsh all committing their futures to the club this season.

Femi Seriki and Jili Buyabu, the highly-rated U21s wing-back pair, did likewise in the last transfer window before heading out on loan to further their development, to Rotherham United and Motherwell respectively. Next on the list are young pair Oliver Arblaster and Daniel Jebbison, who are soon set to become free agents.

The pair have been in negotiations with United about new deals and Arblaster, the 20-year-old England youth international, has this week been credited with transfer interest from Liverpool, according to Anfield Watch. That in itself should not come as much of a surprise, given the depth in recruitment at top Premier League clubs who will keep tabs on every promising young player in the country who could soon become available.

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But the link, with promising youth goalkeeper Luke Faxon also the subject of admiring glances from top clubs including the Reds, serves as another reminder to United about the importance of tying down their young stars or risk losing them for relative peanuts. The number of players now in the final six months of their Bramall Lane contracts is in double figures, with United prioritising January recruitment and the younger players before addressing the futures of some of their more estabished players including Oli McBurnie, John Egan, George Baldock and Ollie Norwood.

The Daily Mail this week reported that United are keen to tie down Faxon to a longer-term deal, with Liverpool joined by the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City in monitoring his progress. Faxon signed his first professional deal last summer after completing his scholarship, alongside fellow under-eights intake Charlie Staniland. Both Faxon and Staniland are firm fixtures in the Blades' U21s, with Arblaster making his comeback after injury earlier this week in the second string's 1-0 defeat to neighbours Barnsley.