Sheffield United still hope to add a centre-half before tonight's deadline while fighting to keep hold of Callum O'Hare, with Chris Wilder admitting football's most frantic day is "chaos".

Sheffield United head into transfer deadline day with optimism that more business can be completed before the 11pm cut-off point - but Chris Wilder admits football's most frantic 24 hours remain as unpredictable as ever. The Blades are still keen to sign a centre-half before the buzzer, with Liam Kitching a leading option.

United also hoped that Callum O’Hare would remain at United beyond tonight, but those seem to be fading with a report from journalist Pete O’Rourke that O’Hare is set for a medical at Wrexham today.

There is the added complication of a game of football right in the middle of the madness, too. United host Bolton Wanderers at Bramall Lane tonight, before attentions turn back to transfers as soon as the full-time whistle goes.

Wrexham have submitted a bid for the United No.10 while Birmingham City are also said to be keeping an eye on the former Coventry man, who was not understood to be forcing a move away from Bramall Lane. But the offer, understood to be a total package worth in excess of £7m, was always going to be tempting for United’s owners.

If he does indeed depart then United will have to move quickly. Reyes Cleary is a former target who has been mentioned by sources in the latter stage of this window, with Barnsley rejecting offers this window from elsewhere after doing so in January as well.

But at this stage it is unclear how much of the proceeds, if any, would be reallocated for a replacement if O’Hare is indeed prised away before 11pm. And amongst all the madness, Wilder has also had to prepare his team for a tough Championship clash against another side still riding the high of promotion from League One.

"It's just mental, isn't it?" Wilder said yesterday at his pre-Bolton press conference. "It's chaos right the way through. I don't think I'm in a group of one on this. Hopefully it's nice and calm and we get in the player that we want to get in, which we feel we're close to, and we don't lose anybody.

“Then we can settle it all down, settle the players down, settle the supporters down and get on with what we're paid to do. But you always feel time is on your side and then, all of a sudden, time's running out.

“Hopefully you get it over the line like we have done with Hamza. There's a lot of moving parts. The secretary, the lawyers, the chief executive, the owners - everybody has their part to play."

United alleviated one issue earlier this week by signing Hamza Choudhury, to bolster their right-back options after Femi Seriki’s injury, and are eyeing a move for Kitching to complete their options at the back. The centre-half won the Championship title last season with Coventry City but has fallen down the pecking order since.

United have scoured the free agent and loan markets since being forced back into them, after false hope that they would be able to spend decent money on a centre-half. They have had to be persistent but they have also had to be patient, with their financial limitations restricting them to frees and loans. They have missed out on a number of targets this summer already, much of their planning work essentially going to waste.

"We're not in a position just to go and buy," Wilder admitted. "We understand the market we're in. There are clubs in different situations. Wrexham are one of them. That's not criticism. They're in a position where they can go and spend, put multiple bids in and see which one drops.

"We have to work extremely hard to identify the right players, get the player onside, get the agent onside, get the club onside ... and make sure the deal looks right for us."

That’s the deadline day plan for United, then. Sign a centre-half, either keep or replace O’Hare and hopefully beat Bolton to register a first three points of the season. All being well, 11pm ticks around without too much incident. And we can park the chaos, at least until January.