Sheffield United new boys make a difference

As the dust continues to settle on another transfer window, one which saw Sheffield United break their transfer record for the umpteenth time this term, Chris Wilder has identified the influence he expects players like Sander Berge, Panos Retsos and Richairo Zivkovic to exert after arriving at Bramall Lane.

Sheffield United's manager Chris Wilder celebrates after the Premier League match at Selhurst Park, London: Paul Terry/Sportimage

It stretches, he insisted, across the entire first team squad. Because their presence, if last January’s recruitment drive is anything to go by, will coax even greater levels of performance out of United’s longer serving players.

“They’ll improve the current crop,” Wilder said. “People coming in always does that.

“It’s in the psyche of a footballer, when they see someone new turning up, to think ‘I want to show you how good I am, and if you’re coming for me, then I’m going to put in even more.’

“It will raise the standards of everyone which should impact on results.”

Wilder pointed to the effect of United’s manoeuvres in the market this time last term to support his theory.

Fourth in the Championship table after beating Blackburn Rovers 3-0 at Bramall Lane on December 29, they went on to secure automatic promotion after capturing Gary Madine, Scott Hogan and Kieran Dowell on loan.

Although all three left at the end of the campaign, Wilder said: “You saw with those, how it lifted the whole group.

“Bringing them in, and they all contributed, was a huge part of how things turned out.”

United were languishing in League One when Wilder was appointed in the summer of 2016. But they entered Saturday’s match at Crystal Palace ranked eighth in the Premier League table and, although the 52-year-old will not admit it publicly, believing they have an outside chance of qualifying for the Europa League.

Events at Selhurst Park, where United triumphed 1-0, served to further strengthen United’s credentials.

“It was a really good window for us,” Wilder said, after United paid £22m to sign Berge. “Everyone says it’s difficult but it’s been successful recently.

“The first in League One was big for us and the one back in the Championship was difficult. But last season, that was a big one.”