Sheffield United's Oliver Norwood makes an admission about his future

The midfielder revealed his intention after Chris Wilder, whose side have prepared for Saturday’s game against Brighton and Hove Albion in sixth place, confirmed he would be invited to discuss a new contract later this term.

Together with Chris Basham, Norwood is expected to begin formal negotiations once deals for players including John Lundstram, Enda Stevens and John Fleck have been officially finalised.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s fixture, Wilder described himself as “100 per cent certain” that Basham and Norwood will reach agreements with United; a belief the latter was happy to underline.

“It’s nice that the club want me to stay here,” Norwood said. “I’ve spoken to the manager and the powers that be. We’ll get there. It’s as simple as that.

“Why, from a personal point of view, would I want to go anywhere else? It’s a special place to be and arguably I want to be here for the rest of my career. I can’t see myself leaving and why would I want to?”

Norwood, aged 28, joined United from Albion at the beginning of last season; helping the club win promotion from the Championship after previously achieving the feat with both Fulham and Graham Potter’s employers. He has made 26 appearances in the top-flight since, with Wilder’s squad moving to within two points of the Champions League places after beating AFC Bournemouth earlier this month.

Asked if qualifying for that competition or the Europa League is now a serious target for a team written off as relegation favourites at the beginning of the campaign, Norwood replied: “We’ve put ourselves in a position. It would be silly to say we don’t dream or that we haven’t spoken about it among ourselves.

“But we know it’s going to be tough and we know there’s a long way to go and that we’re still not there yet.

“But I do think we’ve earned everybody’s respect. We have put ourselves in a wonderful position but nobody is settling (for what we’ve got). The manager wouldn’t let us settle.”