The former Sheffield United player involved in Chris Wilder's deal for Terence Kongolo, as Blades boss confirms talks with Huddersfield Town are taking place

As The Star first revealed earlier this week, Kongolo is among two players Wilder hopes to sign before the window closes on Monday - with a deal for Liverpool’s Rhian Brewster already being finalised.

Although an agreement between United and Town has yet to be reached, officials at The John Smith’s Stadium have no intention of blocking Kongolo’s move after he was declared surplus to requirements by head coach Carlos Corberan. Sources in West Yorkshire have confirmed the 26-year-old has not been training with the rest of Corberan’s squad after being granted permission to leave earlier this summer.

Acknowledging he has asked Leigh Bromby for background information on Kongolo’s personality and fitness - the former United defender is now Town’s head of first team operations - Wilder said: “We have enquired about Terence, as you can imagine. I spoke to Leigh Bromby about him. He (Kongolo) is not figuring in what’s happening at Huddersfield. There’s talks ongoing behind the scenes.”

“You can’t guarantee anything until it gets across the line,” Wilder added, “There’s always a lot of work that goes into identifying players and seeing who is available.”

Although negotiating with Brewster and the striker’s representatives has been United’s main priority over the past fortnight, Wilder made an approach for Kongolo after learning that centre-half Jack O’Connell could miss the rest of the season following a recurrence of the knee injury which has troubled him since the end of last term.

Despite encouraging United’s interest, Town still have no intention allowing Kongolo to depart cheaply after paying Monaco nearly £18m to acquire his services two years ago. Despite being born in Switzerland, Kongolo represents Holland at international level, winning the first of his four senior caps against Ecuador in 2014.

“Championship clubs aren’t going to let their best players go out easily are they,” Wilder said. “Because, with due respect, if we go to the Championship for a player, it’s going to be for one of their better ones. They aren’t going to say one of their best players is suddenly worth half.”

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