Sheffield United must decide to stick or twist as they confront the Jack O'Connell dilemma

There were options in the Premier League but, with Sheffield United lavishing around £23m on Rhian Brewster three days before the window closed, most of them would almost certainly have proved beyond the club’s reach.
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The internet is littered with articles about the scarcity of left footed centre-halves. Which explains why, even before wages are taken into consideration, the fees they command tend to be astronomically high.

But with the top-flight transfer window slamming shut last night, and only deals involving players from EFL clubs now permitted to be brokered, the talent pool United are scouring as they search for cover for the injured Jack O’Connell has just shrunk dramatically. For example Marcos Rojo, ignoring concerns about his fitness record and even assuming he came under the microscope, would only become obtainable in the event he is paid-up by Manchester United and accepts a dramatic reduction in his estimated £90,000 a week salary.

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Terence Kongolo, the Huddersfield Town defender, has emerged as Chris Wilder’s preferred solution to a problem he dubbed the “O’Connell Situation” following last weekend’s defeat by Arsenal - a result which saw United enter the international break still searching for their first points of the new campaign having also been beaten by Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa and Leeds. The Holland international, who has been told he can leave The John Smith’s Stadium providing someone stumps-up the £8m Town still owe his former employers Monaco, is viewed as a viable alternative to the Liverpudlian within Bramall Lane’s boot room. But complications surrounding Kongolo’s recovery from a foot problem raising concerns about his own conditioning levels, and Preston North End quoting a figure of £10m when United made an exploratory call about Ben Davies’ potential availability, it has suddenly become clear why, speaking before the visit to The Emirates Stadium, Wilder raised the possibility they could be forced to gamble on Jack Robinson’s form and fitness until January at least. With O’Connell in danger of missing the entire 2020/21 fixture schedule because of a knee complaint, Robinson is the only genuinely left-footed centre-half at Wilder’s disposal ahead of Fulham’s visit to South Yorkshire on October 17. If he suddenly becomes unavailable, United would be forced to consider changing their 3-5-2 system which, as Wilder reminded during an interview with their in-house media channel this morning, is not something he is planning to do.

“We’re here to pick up points,” Wilder said. “I’m not too down about the way we are playing because I think we’re playing okay. We’re not going to take a wrecking ball to our entire structure, or all of the ideas and beliefs we have inside us. But we are here to win games of football.”

Although O’Connell was pictured on United’s social media streams completing a light weights session at the Steelphalt Academy having undergone surgery last week, Wilder still suspects he will sit out most, if not all, of this term’s calendar. The prodecure was carried out in London, after it was decided he could no long continue playing through the pain barrier.

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Chris Holt, Football Editor