This is what Prince Abdullah had said about possible Sheffield United signings in January transfer window

Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard was on Chris Wilder’s list but the England international apparently didn’t appear keen on getting involved in a relegation scrap, while the money reportedly involved didn’t offer a great deal of value in terms of the market that Sheffield United are shopping in.

And yesterday we learned that another player the Blades were reportedly interested in bringing to Bramall Lane, looks set for a move to Liverpool.

Preston’s Ben Davies appeared likely to join Celtic until the Premier League champions made a late swoop, with that deal expected to go through today.

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United boss Chris Wilder has been at pains to point out that any potential transfer deals were out of his hands and on Saturday, following the 1-0 defeat to Manchester City, he said: “I’m not so sure anything will happen at our football club between now and Monday night.”

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United are certainly in need of bolstering their squad. Injuries and Covid-19 have taken their toll in recent weeks in a hectic schedule and Wilder has been unable to fill his bench for quite some time.

Replacing Jack O’Connell, whose long-term injury has been so deterimental to United’s season, was a priority, while an attacking midfielder was also on the wish list.

That was handed in to the Blades hierarchy by Wilder and from there it was up to the bosses to strike any potential deal.

We’re now into the final day and the United boss has the same squad he began the campaign with.

Back in December, club owner Prince Abdullah said the board were ready to back Wilder in the transfer market, though he did state that he felt that the current squad had plenty of quality in it.

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"We are ready to support the team in January and hopefully help the team," the owner said.

"But what we have now is a good team. The results don't show that but the performances show we have good lads who are playing their hearts out.

"I don't think you can look at the players and say they aren't giving 100 per cent or of good quality, and I'm sure sooner rather than later that logic will prevail and we will have good results."

The Prince revealed at the time that United intended to secure two loan deals in January, and one may contain an option to make the move permanent if the Blades avoid relegation to the Championship.

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"But there is a risk that we may get relegated so we have to take that into consideration," he added.

"We have more than one option and we'll see how it goes, I don't like to talk about specific players and we will try and pick the best option available.

"We want to have them as soon as possible but we don't want to be rushed into bad signings. It has to be a good signing that will help the team, because we have a good team. We've been unfortunate with a couple of injuries. Time is of the essence but that won't force us to make bad decisions."

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