Sheffield United transfer notebook as former top target becomes available again, Oli McBurnie makes Blades admission and two former United hopefuls make their next steps

Recently The Star asked Sheffield United fans which of the 60 free agents confirmed by Championship clubs at that point they would take at Bramall Lane - and the response wasn’t overwhelmingly positive. Since then some more clubs have confirmed their released and retained lists.

And one intriguing name looking for a new club this summer was one familiar to Unitedites, and to boss Chris Wilder especially. United heavily pursued the Republic of Ireland defender during his time at Blackburn Rovers and saw a number of approaches turned down.

Wilder eventually got his man when he took Lenihan to Middlesbrough in 2022, saying at the time: “I've been a huge admirer of Darragh for a long time, in terms of his qualities he brings as a player, as a person, as a competitor, as a warrior, and a leader of men. He's a proper football player and I'm delighted.”

United themselves are on the lookout for central defensive reinforcements this summer, and Lenihan is available on a free transfer after confirmation that he will leave Boro on June 30 when his contract expires.

But Lenihan is now 32 and missed much of last season with an Achilles injury which kept him out of the run-in and march to the play-off final, where they were edged out by Hull City. One of Lenihan’s two games last term was against the Blades.

Striker Marcus Forss, who was also signed by Wilder from Boro, is another free agent this summer while Boro are in discussions with Dael Fry, the type of player you could well imagine pulling on a United shirt in the future, over a new deal ahead of a summer which could also see him depart for nothing.

Former trialists on the road again

Former England international Nathan Redmond is another player with a Blades connection who is looking for a new club this summer, after being released by Blackburn Rovers. The winger linked up with United on trial last summer, alongside Ben Mee and Danny Ings.

But only the latter two were handed deals by then-Blades boss Ruben Selles, and Redmond eventually rocked up across the city with United’s rivals Wednesday. He left in January and signed a short-term deal at Rovers in March, but made just one start and one appearance off the bench.

Another former United trialist, Andre Dozzell, has already moved to pastures new after turning down a new deal with United’s Championship rivals Portsmouth. He looked to win a deal at the Blades the summer before last, before the move was vetoed by United’s owners.

He instead moved to Pompey and played 80 times, but has now moved to MLS side DC United. "We're disappointed to lose Doz, who has been a valuable member of the side during these past two campaigns," said boss John Mousinho.

“He started every game that he was available for this season – which tells you what I think of him – and has gone from strength to strength. We would have liked to keep him, but he's been given an opportunity to go and play abroad and experience something different.”

McBurnie’s honest Blades admission

When Wilder sat down earlier this year with his recruitment staff and fleshed out the type of player they wanted to bring to Bramall Lane, Oli McBurnie was pretty much the template. Ability, character, personality - everything United need in the future and, so often, exactly what they lacked last season.

It was particularly galling to see McBurnie score the winner at Wembley to send Hull City to the Premier League, considering United had him in their grasp last summer. He was desperate to come home after leaving Las Palmas and, had Wilder remained in post, surely would have.

Instead Selles, looking to put his own stamp on the squad he had inherited, said no and the rest is history, with McBurnie helping to fire Hull into the big time while United languished in mid-table and wondered what could have been.

There is something of a rewriting of history when it comes to McBurnie, who scored 29 goals in 159 appearances for United after a £20m move. Some of that time was a barren spell in the Championship; some of it was also in the Premier League, used as a target man and battling the likes of Virgil van Dijk in the air.

He has also matured as a person and a player in the years since, learning the lessons from a few off-field scrapes which saw him hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. He is, above all, an absolute gem of a lad who will always be welcome back at Bramall Lane.

“When I first got my move to Sheffield United,” he admitted after his Wembley moent, “I probably wasn't really ready to be that person that they expected of me. As I've grown and got older and more mature, I think I've grown into that role and I enjoy that.”

“When I came back from Las Palmas, I knew some of the lads in the dressing room. It wasn't all about the ability that they had, but also the character they had. I knew I was going into a dressing room with winners. If you surround yourself with enough winners, you are going to win.

“When things get tough, you look around and you have 10 other men who you really want to go to war with and fight with. That's what it was out there [in the play-off final] today. There are games this season where people will be wondering how we've won a game, a bit like today. But it is down to the character of the boys in the dressing room.”

What United would have done for such character last season.