The important calculation Sheffield United must make as interest in striker grows

Not even Sander Berge, capped 24 times by Norway and a former Champions League campaigner, is generating the same level of interest among Premier League clubs as the Scotland international - whose admirers reportedly include Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Ham and Rangers, the reigning Scottish Premiership champions.

But the McBurnie the trio are supposedly chasing isn’t the player who struggled for both form and at times confidence last term, as United surrendered their top-flight status. Or the McBurnie who was used as a battering ram when, after completing a £20m move from Swansea City earlier that summer, he helped them finish ninth in the table the season before. Instead it is the McBurnie who ran at defences from deep and troubled opponents with his timing and positional sense they are keen to sign - which presents Slavisa Jokanovic with a major dilemma as he prepares to take charge of United later this year.

McBurnie has shown himself to be a lethal weapon at Championship level. Exactly the type of player, if he is used differently, United will require to mount a challenge for automatic promotion.

Although he must take some personal responsibility for his failure to progress as expected, the role McBurnie has been required to perform since arriving at Bramall Lane has also been a factor - something officials at Molineux, the London Stadium and certainly Ibrox, where Steven Gerrard is particularly keen on the 24-year-old, clearly recognise.

Speaking during their stay at Oriam, Scotland national performance centre for sport, in August, McBurnie touched on this subject after being put up for interview by United’s media team. He stressed he wasn’t being critical, even going out of his way to explain it would “almost certainly” make him a more complete striker. But McBurnie admitted folk who had followed his career, particularly at the Liberty Stadium, would be “surprised” to see him attempting to use brute force rather than intelligence to prise apart some of the best-drilled rearguards in English football.

“I reckon they’d laugh if they saw the number of headers I’m going for,” he smiled. “It’s not something they’d probably associate me with. It’s not something I’d have associated myself with either. But I’m happy to do it, more than happy in fact, because it helps the team and how we want to go about things. And the team is the most important thing. Especially here, where it’s all about the group.”

“I’m willing and happy to do whatever it takes,” McBurnie continued. “I’m not someone who is big on personal glory or anything like that. If doing what I do brings the best out of someone else, then that’s great. I know I’ve got to do the business myself, of course. But I also want to help my team mates as well.”

In a sense, McBurnie has probably sacrificed more of himself than any other member of United’s squad during what turned out to be an unsuccessful attempt to establish a foothold in the PL. Jokanovic, whose title of manager rather than head coach suggests he will have the final say on who stays and who goes during the forthcoming transfer window, is likely to have noted this when studying footage of their matches under both caretaker Paul Heckingbottom and Chris Wilder, who was responsible for bringing McBurnie to South Yorkshire.

Although Jokanovic does not seem to be planning any major changes to the strategy Wilder employed to such good effect until injuries, internal politics and a number of other factors conspired to derail his team, the Serb is plotting a number of tactical tweaks. If these would suit the ‘old’ McBurnie, the one who averaged a goal every 1.96 games during his final season in south Wales, then he has a big decision to make.

With their possession and chances created percentages expected to increase dramatically in the second tier, United are unlikely to require someone to “hold up the ball and get us up the pitch” - as McBurnie described his job in the PL

Jokanovic has already identified “pace” and “power” as two of the qualities he wants them to demonstrate. Pairing McBurnie with Rhian Brewster, who Heckingbottom predicted will prove his worth in the Championship before stepping down last week, could help accelerate this process - particularly if David McGoldrick is deployed in midfield - although captain Billy Sharp remains the most clinical finisher on United’s books at present.

Although the expressions of interest in McBurnie have yet to materialise into actual offers, United privately concede that retaining the core of the side Jokanovic will inherit next month will not be a straightforward process.

Berge and John Lundstram, whose contract is about to expire, both seem destined to move on while John Fleck, John Egan and George Baldock have featured on the shopping list of PL clubs in the not-so-distant past. None of them are agitating to leave, with Jokanovic’s appointment bringing some much needed clarity behind the scenes. However, history suggests there will be at least one unexpected departure as rival teams look to exploit United’s demotion. Likewise, there will be players both Wilder and Heckingbottom valued who Jokanovic could declare surplus to requirements.

Time will tell if McBurnie is one of those. But when that calculation is made, United’s new regime will also review his body of work at Swansea rather than simply his efforts over the past two seasons.