Sheffield United alert to potential transfer opportunities as crisis club Leicester City face summer reckoning
With crisis club Leicester City preparing for life in League One as their downward spiral continues, Sheffield United are among those assessing how the fallout could impact their own transfer plans this summer.
Sheffield United will keep half an eye on developments at crisis club Leicester City this summer, The Star understands, as the Foxes face up to the reality of life back in League One after back-to-back promotions. Leicester, who spoke to United boss Chris Wilder in the summer, went down a different path instead.
And it was not a fruitful one, with the midweek draw with Hull City confirming their second successive relegation - exactly 10 years after the fairytale moment that saw them crowned Premier League champions.
Their tale should be a cautionary one for Unitedites as to how differently this season could have panned out after their horror start, firmly reinforcing - if reinforcement were needed - the fact that no club is ever too big to go down.
And as Leicester sift through the financial wreckage that relegation will bring, United and some of their other Championship rivals will be interested onlookers. Two of their current squad were on loan at Bramall Lane last year while a third, Welsh international Jordan James, is known to have big admirers amongst the United coaching staff.
Sheffield United alert to potential transfer opportunities as crisis club Leicester City face summer reckoning
The midfielder is on loan at the King Power from Rennes, with reports recently suggesting that one English club has already made contact with the French club about the possibility of a deal for next season.
That club, we understand, is not United but the Blades will keep an eye on that situation over the summer as it unfolds. Wilder currently has four senior options in midfield under contract for next term in Joe Rothwell, Jairo Riedewald - whose one-year option will be taken up - Oliver Arblaster and Sydie Peck.
But the Blades are bracing themselves for interest in the likes of Peck and have to be ready to sign a replacement if any of their prized assets are prized away in the summer as they tighten their own belts after the loss of Premier League parachute payments.
United, as we revealed recently, are keen on the idea of bringing Kalvin Phillips back to Bramall Lane next season if a deal can be struck with his parent club Manchester City but if they have to pursue alternative options to bolster their midfield, then former loanee Hamza Choudhury could come under consideration.
Speculation linking popular defender Harry Souttar with a return to United have also refused to go away throughout the giant defender’s rehabilitation period, after he suffered a devastating Achilles’ injury while on loan at the Lane.
Souttar has now returned to the Foxes first-team set-up and was on the bench in midweek as the 2-2 draw with Hull - in which former Blade Oli McBurnie scored again - sealed their relegation to League One.
Much, as ever, will depend on Leicester’s stance over their players. The current expectation at United is that they would demand fees for the likes of Choudhury and Souttar, which may prove beyond United in a summer transfer window expected to be dominated by loans, frees and modest fees.
But that situation may change later in the summer if they remain in situ and Leicester deem their wages too high to carry in the third tier, as they look to cut their cloth accordingly.