"Very important" defender on Sheffield United's transfer radar after Nottingham Forest target snub
"Very important" defender on Sheffield United's transfer radar after Nottingham Forest target snub
The January transfer window slams shut in a week’s time and although Sheffield United have a couple of bodies through the door, with another close, there is still some work to be done between now and next Monday’s deadline. The Blades have completed their attacking business by signing Ben Brereton Diaz and Tom Cannon, with an imminent deal for Hamza Choudhury adding to their options in midfield.
The final pieces in the United jigsaw will be in defence, with a right-back and centre-half identified as priority positions by boss Chris Wilder. United’s interest in Jonjoe Kenny had been public for a while even before the Hertha Berlin man made public his desire to join the Blades, while a number of targets have been tracked as potential replacements for injured loan star Harry Souttar.
Amongst them was Andrew Omobamidele, the Nottingham Forest defender who the Blades were keen on when he was at Norwich before moving to the City Ground in an £11m deal. We understand that United were told that the Republic of Ireland international was not keen on dropping back into the Championship this month, and the 22-year-old instead signed for Strasbourg on loan last week.
Omobamidele impressed on debut for the Ligue 1 side at the weekend in victory over Lille but there were contrasting fortunes for another player of interest for the Blades, in QPR defender Jimmy Dunne. His side slipped to a 2-0 defeat at home to United’s city rivals Wednesday, with boss Martí Cifuentes quizzed by The Star over United’s interest in Dunne after the full time whistle.
“I have not heard anything from the club's perspective on it,” the Spaniard said. “Jimmy is a very important player, I know that he loves to be at QPR, he loves the club and we all love him, so we will see what happens. But he is a very important player for us.”
Dunne is out of contract at Loftus Road in the summer, leaving the Londoners potentially vulnerable to a cut-price bid rather than risk one of their key men leaving for nothing in the summer. The defender had a fleeting experience of playing in the Premier League during his time with Burnley - and may be seduced by the possibility of doing so again with promotion-chasing United.