Sheffield United owners ponder next move over Harry Souttar as Leicester City stand firm over transfer deal
Sheffield United owners ponder next move over Harry Souttar as Leicester City stand firm over transfer deal
Sheffield United’s owners are considering their next move in the race to sign Harry Souttar after their bid to sign the Australian defender was turned down by Leicester City. United are keen on signing two centre-halves before next month’s transfer deadline.
But they have been thwarted in their hopes of one of those being Souttar by the £10m valuation the Foxes have put on his head, as we first revealed last month. That didn’t automatically signal the end of United’s interest, though, with hopes a deal could be negotiated.
But as things stand United are going into the season with Jamal Baptiste as a first-choice centre-half, with Mark McGuinness and Nils Zatterstrom out of favour and Japhet Tanganga Wilder’s other option.
Speaking at the weekend Foxes boss Russell Martin hit back at Wilder’s public admiration of Souttar, who had a successful loan spell at Bramall Lane a couple of seasons ago and would be keen to return if the chance arose.
And speaking this morning at his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s season opener at Mansfield Town, Wilder said: “We have put an offer in for a player, as has been talked about. There is only so much we can go to on that and if that's out of our price bracket, then we move on.
“The majority of the work is loans and frees. The free transfer market is a really difficult one compared to last year. There are a lot of players, especially in the positions that we're looking for, that we could have taken last year.
“But that's the story of last season. So it's a different market this year. The loan market, as always, is always permanent, permanent, permanent until the last week of the season."
Asked about the status of the bid, Wilder added: “Yeah, it's a player that we've talked about before. I'll get told off if I keep mentioning his name. Yeah, it's been turned down, so it's with the board for the next step.”
As well as the two centre-halves he is searching Wilder is also keen to sign a left winger to complete his first-choice options. "We’re basically three players off turning this team from a team which I like, into a really good team, in my opinion,” Wilder added. “The work now is to get those three players in as early as we possibly can.”