Sheffield United may already have answer to summer transfer question as Chris Wilder drops future hint
Ryan One will return to Sheffield United this summer as a promotion winner - and Chris Wilder believes the teenage striker has all the attributes to become a major part of the club’s future.
The 2025/26 football season is not officially over in this country for another few weeks but already Sheffield United fans are looking eagerly towards the summer and the opening of the transfer window. The Star asked Unitedites for their realistic targets earlier today, and they responded in droves.
A number of forward players were mentioned as potential options but United may already have the answer already in their squad when they return for pre-season later this summer. Ryan One will come back to United as a promotion-winner, having helped Lincoln City into the Championship.
There is a great deal of excitement about the striker at United. He is a boy in a man’s body, still only 19 until towards the end of next month but with the kind of physical attributes that cannot be coached.
There is still work to be done on him, of course, which is why United made the decision to let him leave in January. The aim of a loan deal is to let your youngsters make their mistakes elsewhere and return, hopefully, a more rounded player and person.
The One that returned to United training earlier this month was different to the one that left a few months earlier, having grown accustomed to life in League One and, particularly crucially for United, the pressure to win games in a promotion race.
That is, after all, what he will be exposed to if his career goes as planned, either at Bramall Lane or elsewhere. He may have been disappointed to miss a post-season celebration in Las Vegas, as he is not yet 21, but there is expected to be plenty of time for that in the future.
“We were delighted to see him, and he’ll be pushing next year,” boss Chris Wilder admitted of the Scottish youth international recently. “He’s got the attributes and profile of a really good player, and he’s still only 19.
“We’ve monitored him. He's not played all the time. He's not played in every game. But to be around a winning football team, which he will again next year, has been great for him. To enjoy promotion, to see what promotion looks like as well, and to contribute to and be involved in that.
“He's a bit disappointed he can't go to Vegas because he's only 19. So, hopefully he'll have his time. He's got a big future ahead of him and I'm looking forward to working with him next year.”
Privately, there have been flattering comparisons for One with Will Osula, the striker the Blades sold to Newcastle United two seasons ago and is now being linked with clubs such as Bayern Munich.
Going back a little further, David Brooks seized his chance in the first-team, after initially being earmarked for a loan, and not long after became a senior international and sealed a big-money move to the Premier League.
“He’s a number nine who can link it up,” Wilder added on One. “Run down the sides and score. I'm not putting too much on Ryan, but he's got a big future. And his future is with us. We're delighted that he's here for long term.”