The challenges Sheffield United face in the transfer market, as another deadline and key Premier League fixture loom on the horizon

A little over two months ago, Antonee Robinson appeared destined for Sheffield United following Wigan Athletic’s relegation from the Championship. But then Scott Parker sensed an opportunity and seized the moment, snatching the USA international out of Chris Wilder’s clutches and taking him to Craven Cottage instead after receiving permission to trump United’s offer - to both Robinson’s former employers and also the player himself.

The circumstances surrounding the 23-year-old’s move to west London highlight the challenges Wilder faces in the transfer market as his board of directors attempt to provide the unearth the funding streams required to ensure United are competitive at the highest level whilst protecting the club’s position during the Covid-19 pandemic. Indeed, after it emerged Parker had also entered the race for Terence Kongolo, identified by Wilder’s talent spotters as an ideal candidate to fill the void created by Jack O’Connell’s potentially season-ending injury, a comment Wilder made at the beginning of the summer window now resonates even more forcibly.

“I don’t mention names, and I won’t mention names,” the United manager said, in response to a question about another target. “There’s a couple of reasons for that. The first is out of respect for their clubs they’re at right now, because I wouldn’t appreciate it if someone started talking about one of my players so I won’t be doing it to anyone else. The second is because we have to be smart in the way we go about our work. I think there’s people out there who look at who we’ve been linked with and think , because we’ve got a pretty good record in this department, ‘I’ll have some of that.’ It’s why, even though I appreciate and understand the interest, in a perfect world we’d rather do what we’re doing in private.”

Although delivered partly in jest, as supporters cracked jokes that Aston Villa’s recruitment strategy consisted of plagiarizing Wilder’s wish-list, the United manager’s words also revealed why it was always going to be tougher to achieve results this term than last - on and, perhaps even more so, off the pitch.

Last term, when they finished ninth, United were fuelled by momentum following their climb out of the Championship and a passionate, partisan crowd. With social distancing measures now stripping them of the latter - and the money they spent on matchdays - United have also found it tougher to negotiate with potential acquisitions. Although like United, Fulham also enter this weekend’s fixture searching for their first point of the new campaign, Parker’s side have banked Premier League rights cheques in 13 of the past 18 seasons. West Bromwich Albion, another newly promoted club, have benefited eight times out of 10 while Leeds, despite spending 16 seasons outside of the top-flight before winning the title last term, have lavished north of £80m on new players since July. United were about the begin their sixth season in League One when Wilder was appointed in May 2016, with the speed of their ascent under the 53-year-old, despite being an amazing achievement, meaning they had no opportunity to build-up a fighting fund before rejoining the game’s elite.

By hijacking their swoops for Robinson and Cash, who had also featured on Wilder’s radar, Fulham and Villa exposed how United’s negotiators are forced to dot every ‘i’, cross every ‘t’ and account for nearly every pound involved in a deal. Those acting on behalf of Parker and Dean Smith, his counterpart in the West Midlands, are not handicapped by the same requirement. Agreements can be brokered swiftly and in double-quick time - even those beyond United’s reach, such as Fulham’s ability to sign Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek on loan. Although the conditions attached to the transfer remain a secret, Loftus-Cheek’s team mate at Stamford Bridge Ross Barkley is thought to have cost Villa a loan fee of around £2m as well as the lion’s share of his estimated £160,000 a week age when he joined Smith’s side recently. Loftus-Cheek, capped 10 times by England, earns around £150,000 a week, with Fulham thought to be contributing around half, as well as paying a facility fee to their neighbours.

Wilder did, of course, acknowledge that he was chasing Liverpool’s Rhian Brewster before he became the most expensive ever purchase in United’s history earlier this month. But sources close to the centre-forward suspect this was a calculated risk, a ploy designed to send out a message that, as discussions about his future at Anfield became increasingly complex, that United were more serious about hiring him than his other suitors including Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Villa. Wilder’s decision to go public also had the effect of accelerating United’s talks with Brewster and preventing his other admirers from making concrete approaches of their own.

Jayden Bogle and Max Lowe, who arrived in South Yorkshire when Robinson and Cash went elsewhere, could both find their chances of enjoying a prolonged run in Wilder’s starting eleven enhanced if there is any more disruption to a defence which is expected to be without O’Connell for the foreseeable future, whole Brewster is expected to make his debut against Fulham after the paperwork finalising his switch from Liverpool was not completed in time for him to face Arsenal before the international break.

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Chris Holt, Football Editor