They don't have a manager, so why are Sheffield United monitoring Peterborough striker Jonson Clarke-Harris?

But by dispatching scouts to watch the 26-year-old in action against Accrington Stanley on Saturday, when he scored his second hat-trick of the season during a 7-0 win over John Coleman’s side, Bramall Lane’s hierarchy also provided an insight into the type of framework within which Wilder’s successor will be expected to operate after taking hold of the reins.

It is not unusual for recruitment departments to continue monitoring the progress of an in-demand player following a change at the helm, or before a replacement is announced.

But during an interview with a Premier League rights-holder, which was ostensibly designed to allow him to have his say on the reasons behind Wilder’s exit, HRH Prince Abdullah bin Musa’ad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud claimed the former United defender had refused to follow up a list of potential signings presented to him by the board last summer.

That suggests to Saudi Arabian, who was granted sole ownership of United following a High Court battle with Kevin McCabe in 2019, will instruct his footballing advisors to do the same when Wilder’s replacement is officially unveiled.

Despite insisting he has no plans to install a director of football, even though Wilder’s assistant Alan Knill is known to have been offered a technical position earlier this month, Prince Abdullah and Jan van Winckel, one of his closest sporting confidants, clearly want to establish a closer relationship with the new manager than the one they enjoyed - and at times endured - with his predecessor.

With their own director of football Barry Fry choosing to list every single one of the teams who sent scouts to London Road last weekend, Peterborough appear to be preparing to sell Clarke-Harris at the end of the present campaign.

Fry also detailed how AFC Bournemouth made a number of enquiries about the centre-forward’s availability during the January window, only to see their approaches rebutted because “we want promotion this season.”

By insisting “we could probably get five times what we paid for him,” Fry effectively told officials on the south coast and other clubs considering bids for Clarke-Harris that will cost around £5m to prise him away.

Although United already possess a number of attackers capable of scoring goals in the Championship - entering this weekend’s derby against Leeds 14 points adrift of safety, they are almost certain to be relegated from the Premier League - Prince Abdullah indicated the forward line Wilder constructed could be overhauled before the start of next term.

Acknowledging whoever comes in “might not want” six strikers, United could be tempted to trim their options in this department in order to improve elsewhere or simply inject fresh blood into what is bound to be a demoralised squad.

After expressing an interest in Wigan Athletic’s Kyle Joseph and also compiling a dossier on Kevin Nisbet of Hibernian and Scotland, Wilder seemed to be planning a similar overhaul before leaving his post.

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