Sheffield United negotiated key transfer clause with Premier league rival

Midway through a season which saw them gain promotion from the Championship, United were prohibited from making any new signings after defaulting on a number of payments relating to previous player purchases.

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Despite being banned from bolstering the options at his disposal during the January window, Heckingbottom also guided his team into the FA Cup semi-finals before securing Premier League status next term, with revenues generated by that march on Wembley being used to pay-off the debts which initially prompted the EFL to intervene. But during the discussions aimed at rescheduling and redesigning the instalments at the heart of United’s issue with the governing body, one of those teams owed money insisted on being given the right to acquire a key player within Heckingbottom’s starting eleven, whose identity remains unknown, providing they matched any bid offered by a rival and accepted by Bramall Lane’s hierarchy.

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The clause, which is understood to have been written into the agreement which saw their talks with United reach a successful resolution, does not mean Heckingbottom’s employers are required to sell before the individual concerned becomes a free agent. But it does hand the team who brokered it a major advantage should he move on ahead of the new campaign.

Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge both attracted interest from elsewhere as United laid the foundations for the second placed finish which saw them regain top-flight status following two seasons away. Everton wanted to buy Ndiaye, but the Senegal attacker and his representatives did not view Goodison Park as a desirable destination given United’s position in the table and the upheaval in that corner of Merseyside. Like Ndiaye, Berge also told coaching staff that he wanted to remain in South Yorkshire despite being linked with Newcastle. Liverpool have previously been credited with keeping tabs on the Norway midfielder too. United paid a club record fee to recruit Rhian Brewster from Anfield during their last spell in the PL, with the striker hoping to recover from the hamstring injury which forced him to miss most of last term ahead of August’s return to action.

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Although United eventually satisfied the EFL’s demands, the amount of time they spent under the embargo meant they would have been prohibited from processing new registrations for an 18 month period had they not gone up. That punishment will not apply, however, if they are relegated next year.

Heckingbottom is set to meet senior figures from United World, the organisation which oversees owner Prince Abdullah bin Musa’ad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud’s portfolio of sporting interests, in Geneva next week.

With transfer fees typically paid across the course of a player’s contract, that meeting is designed to confirm his budget and therefore decide which of the targets he has identified can realistically be pursued.

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