Sheffield United: Pressure applied ahead of the transfer window as battle for influence begins

But by choosing to outline the argument he is putting forward, in order to convince the club’s hierarchy they should ignore even stratospheric offers for the likes of Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge, Paul Heckingbottom clearly feels it’s a possibility. Otherwise, given the 45-year-old’s reticence to talk about Bramall Lane’s internal machinations, he would have steered the conversation in a different direction instead.

“The potential goal,” United’s manager told The Star, after confirming his priority during the New Year sales is ensuring Bramall Lane’s squad remains intact, “Far outweighs what can be gained by selling someone. Why wouldn’t you keep everything together and really go for it?

“The message is the same to the lads themselves. Go and do it, be the best you can. I understand the money aspect. But the achievement, doing something that would go down in the history books, that’s big too. Maybe bigger at this point in time. If we keep the team and the players here, I think we can give ourselves a real chance of doing that.”

Although he likes to peddle the narrative that he is completely absorbed by football, Heckingbottom knows it is impossible to separate politics and professional sport. What happens in the boardroom influences events on the pitch. Teams do not exist in a vacuum. They are exposed to changes in the financial climate and, as the 45-year-old acknowledged earlier this week, even discussions among the governing bodies about what constitutes an acceptable level of contact. “The tackles that are being allowed now, the physicality, that’s making the division much more competitive.”

Despite seeing a dozen members of his side ruled-out by injury or illness ahead of the World Cup break, United opened up a five point gap over third placed Blackburn Rovers when they celebrated their return to action by beating Huddersfield Town last weekend. With Berge, Max Lowe, Jayden Bogle and Tommy Doyle among those who have either now been declared fit or are close to being cleared for action, United enter Monday’s game at Wigan Athletic in a strong position. Which, Heckingbottom hopes, lends even greater weight to his argument.

“The main priority, even though we are looking (at potential signings) all the time and even for next summer, is keeping things together,” he said. “We have conversations, they’re always happening.”

“It shows, being where we are, that we’re serious,” Heckingbottom continued. “If we were in the bottom half, then maybe the situation would be different. Maybe the board would be thinking about cashing in and doing something different with their money.”

Berge attracted admiring glances from Club Brugge and Chelsea during last summer’s window before remaining in South Yorkshire. There are no guarantees but United expect to keep him again. Ndiaye, however, is almost certain to receive offers, whether they become public knowledge or not, following his performances in Qatar for Senegal.

“With the lads we had out, you could have selected a team capable of winning Championship games,” Heckingbottom said. “Now some are coming back, we want to kick on.”