Sheffield United: What Paul Heckingbottom told Prince Abdullah during the owner's visit to Bramall Lane
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The Saudi Arabian, a former president of the kingdom’s General Sports Authority, has been an infrequent visitor to Bramall Lane since gaining sole control of the club in 2019 following a High Court battle with former business partner Kevin McCabe.
But he travelled to England to watch United’s game against Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday, which saw them remain on top of the Championship table ahead of tomorrow’s visit to Stoke City despite slipping to a rare defeat.
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Hide AdAlthough he described their meeting beforehand as “nothing out of the ordinary”, Heckingbottom told The Star he had used it to try and petition for a number of ideas he is trying to implement behind the scenes; insisting United must continue to become “proactive” rather than reactive to footballing events. Heckingbottom spoke last month about the need to tie some of their most influential names down to new contracts, with a large swathe of his squad set to depart either as free agents or following the expiration of their loan agreements at the end of the campaign. However, the 44-year-old has since confirmed that he has now stepped away from those negotiations, preferring to leave them in the hands of Bramall Lane’s hierarchy and the respective players’ representatives instead.
“We had a chat before the game,” Heckingbottom said, referring to his get-together with Prince Abdullah, who was accompanied by representatives of the United World group which oversees his portfolio of sporting interests. “We spoke about all sorts, about us as a team and as a club.
“It’s the first time I’ve actually seen him in nearly a year, although that’s not to say we haven’t been in contact. We talked about things that might be coming up, plenty of different things.”
“It was me, throwing ideas at him, being a bit pushy and getting my ideas out there,” Heckingbottom continued. “In other words, doing my job. Trying to keep driving things rather than reacting. We’re getting better, I believe.”
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Heckingbottom used his latest media conference to outline some of the work which has been taking place at United’s training complex in order to improve conditions for his team. Construction on two new playing surfaces is close to being completed, after Heckingbottom complained the old pitches were contributing to the number of injuries United have suffered since the turn of the year.
Despite refusing to elaborate too much, for fear of breaking a confidence or handing an advantage to United’s rivals, Heckingbottom also indicated their plans for the January transfer window were also discussed with Prince Abdullah; a former chairman of Saudi giants Al-Hilal. However, after retaining the services of Sander Berge before last month’s deadline and processing a £3m move for Anel Ahmedhodzic plus a number of temporary deals, Heckingbottom does not expect a large pot of money to be placed at his disposal for mid-term improvements.
Asked if it was good to speak with Prince Abdullah in the flesh, Heckingbottom said: “It’s good for him to be here. It’s his team and his club. The only downside was that he couldn’t see the players win.”