Sheffield United's most important summer signing following Dean Henderson blueprint as fans tip England call

It has still been less than a year since Michael Cooper set foot in South Yorkshire on a permanent basis but the goalkeeper is already on the way towards becoming a firm favourite at Sheffield United. A bargain buy for a fee of around £2m initially, Cooper has been arguably United’s most important signing of the summer as they look to reclaim their place in the Premier League at the first attempt.

A couple more eye-catching saves in Sunday’s derby win over rivals Wednesday furthered his cause, and led to chants of “England’s No.1” from the jubilant away end behind him. A quiet character perhaps typical of his native Devon, Cooper has been fully embraced in this small corner of the world and received further reminders of his standing with supporters while celebrating with them after Sunday’s win.

His partner Morgan’s social media account was flooded with messages of love for the goalkeeper, some even asking for his hand in marriage. United have a good recent record with goalkeepers becoming fan favourites, going back to the time of Alan Kelly and Simon Tracey and with the likes of Paddy Kenny and Dean Henderson also capturing hearts in the meantime. In Cooper, they have another gem.

“He’s not bad, is he?” a beaming Chris Wilder said in the aftermath of Sunday, which saw Rhian Brewster score the winner either side of two eye-catching saves from Cooper to deny Michael Smith’s header and then former Blade Marvin Johnson’s well-struck shot on the angle.

“His performances have been outstanding and that’s another clean sheet. He’s there to make saves and I think the first one is a pretty comfortable one from Smith. The second one is a decent save, but his calmness is incredible.

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“Whether that's where he comes from in the country, I don’t know. It might be a reason, without being too controversial. He's a down-to-earth boy. He just gets on with his job and he's been outstanding.

“I think all teams that want to win and want to achieve something in this division have a strong base. We had it with Dean last time out [in 2019 when the Blades were promoted to the Premier League] and Wes [Foderingham] did a great job for Sheff United. And Michael's following in those footsteps.”

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Cooper, now 25, did not represent England at age-group level as a youngster but if he carries on at this rate, those England chants may prove to be not too wide of the mark - especially if the Blades continue their recent run of form and cement their place in the Premier League next season. He has time on his side and also all the attributes of a modern goalkeeper; good with his hands, first and foremost, but also with his feet.

His calmness, both on the ball and under it when it’s lumped into the box, has impressed Unitedites after the short and chaotic spell with Ivo Grbic between the posts and although it seems far too early to think of Cooper moving on, his conservative market value right now could be 10 times the fee United paid Plymouth in the summer. If they go up, then that initial sum is thought to double - but even then, it’s still money very, very well spent.