Sheffield United playing poker in transfer market after Chris Wilder's "ridiculous" transfer deal admission

Chris Wilder has likened Sheffield United’s quest for new signings this window to “a game of poker” as the wait continues for a first January arrival to Bramall Lane. The Blades are desperate for fresh blood to inject new life into their promotion push in the final 20 games of the season.

Ben Brereton Diaz remains a top target as the Blades look to negotiate his release from struggling Southampton while Hamza Choudhury is also on Wilder’s wanted list this window. The Blades boss said on Wednesday that United were “not a million miles off” adding to their group with talks ongoing over the last couple of days ahead of last night’s FA Cup clash with Cardiff.

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Speaking after his much-changed side tumbled out of the competition after a 1-0 defeat in front of just over 6,000 fans at Bramall Lane, Wilder said: "We've been talking the last 48 hours continually, working and trying to progress deals through.

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"I've talked about selling clubs or players who are loaned out - they want the best deal and they wait for better offers coming in as well. It really is that type of situation, but we've moved stuff forward so I'm sure hopefully we'll see some progress in the next four or five days leading up to the Norwich game.

"If I told you about one of the deals you'd find that ridiculous, but you have to wait. It's a bit of a game of poker at times. But we've got players who want to come here, which is the biggest thing. And we've got owners and a chief exec who are working tirelessly to try and bring players in, which is good enough for me."