Sheffield United: Manager won't make the final call on Iliman Ndiaye's future

Aged 22, Ndiaye has scored nine goals and claimed seven assists so far this season, emerging as one of the most influential members of a team which enters tomorrow’s game against Stoke City ranked second in the Championship.

Although United have yet to receive a firm expression of interest in the attacker, his performances at the World Cup in Qatar mean he now features on the radar of some of the most leading names at home and abroad.

With takeover talks involving Prince Abdullah bin Musa’ad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and an as yet unnamed investor placing even greater constraints upon Heckingbottom’s already limited budget, the former Barnsley, Leeds and Hibernian chief said: “I’m not the decision maker regarding Iliman, but they (the directors) will get my standpoint on it. I don’t know but what I do is that I’ll keep saying I don’t want anyone to go.”

Nine points clear of third placed Blackburn Rovers, United are in a strong position to regain the Premier League status they surrendered two years ago. But losing Ndiaye at such a critical stage of the campaign would threaten to undermine all of the good work Heckingbottom, his coaching staff and players have produced since August. A combination of factors, including doubts about Prince Abdullah’s ownership and their failure to extend a contract which is scheduled to expire next summer, have left United in an exposed position regarding Ndiaye. Although an approach for him over the coming weeks can not be entirely ruled-out, sources within the game believe it is more likely that Ndiaye’s suitors will wait until the end of the season before making their moves. By then, Ndiaye would be approaching the final 12 months of his present agreement.

Further evidence of the pressure Heckingbottom is under to stay within a budget which was cut before Prince Abdullah entered into negotiations about relinquishing control emerged during Thursday’s pre-match media conference at the Randox Health Academy. Heckingbottom confirmed he has not received a cast iron guarantee that he will be able to replace Reda Khadra following the attacker’s departure earlier this week. Instead, United’s hierarchy appear to have indicated that any new acquisition must cost the same as Khadra, whose loan move was largely being funded by his parent club Brighton and Hove Albion. That, Heckingbottom conceded, will prove a tough ask.

“We need that body, as far as I’m concerned, to protect what we’ve got,” he said, outlining why he thinks it is important to fill the void created by the Germany under-21 international’s exit. “We want it to protect our players and also to retain that ability to be able to change games. It’s something I’d like to be able to do. We’ll see. Everyone is on the same page about what we’re trying to achieve (overall), I’m sure of that.”