What ‘proper No.9’ Cameron Archer will offer Sheffield United amid Iliman Ndiaye comparison

Cameron Archer will offer Sheffield United a real goal threat when his move from Aston Villa is completed, and will have “hunger and determination” to prove his boyhood club wrong to let him go by scoring goals in the Premier League. The 21-year-old is set to be unveiled as United’s latest summer signing after a deal was struck with Villa.

Archer has been a long-standing target of United’s coaching staff and has been given the green light to leave Villa Park, with Unai Emery’s side retaining some control over his future via a sell-on clause inserted into the deal. Emery described the deal as “good for him and good for the club because we can take money from the transfer”, with Villa’s Financial Fair Play situation aided by being able to bank the money from a homegrown player as pure profit.

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The striker gave Unitedites a glimpse of his potency in front of goal with two deadly finishes in loan club Middlesbrough’s 3-1 victory at Bramall Lane back in February. In all Archer scored 11 times in 23 games and adding six assists for Boro, and essentially arrives at Bramall Lane as Iliman Ndiaye’s replacement following the forward’s move to Marseille earlier this summer.

But the two are very different players, with Archer more of a ‘No.9’ forward who plays on the shoulders of defenders. He enjoyed a fruitful partnership at Boro with Chuba Akpom, another former Blades target who scored 28 Championship goals last season before moving to Ajax this summer. Boss Paul Heckingbottom will be hoping that Archer can recreate that partnership with Gus Hamer, another outstanding second-tier player, when the deal is completed - hopefully in time for Sunday’s visit of Manchester City to Bramall Lane.

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“Without begging him up or putting him on a pedestal, I do think there’s a little bit of Jermaine Defoe about him,” said Yorkshire Post football writer Leon Wobschall, who covered Boro last season during Archer’s time at the Riverside. “There are similarities. Archer has a low centre of gravity and he’s very quick, especially over shorter bursts. That’s more his forte.

“He’s definitely an on-the-shoulder sort of player and he worked well with Akpom. Michael Carrick used Akpom as a No.10 and he dropped off, while Archer was the one on the shoulder of the defender, and it just seemed to really work well. He came off the left a bit as well, but he’s primarily a No.9 type and scored all manner of goals.”

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United will not enjoy the same number of chances they were afforded last season in the Championship as they saw off a late-season challenge from Archer, Akpom and Boro to secure automatic promotion behind Burnley, placing extra pressure on the Blades’ forwards to not waste opportunities when they do arise - and even create them themselves out of nothing.

“Archer can do that,” Wobschall added. “He’s got nimble feet as well as that low centre of gravity and good close control. He’s not the biggest, I don’t think he’ll score many headers but he’s pretty sharp. He scored some ‘No.9 goals’, rebounds and finishes in the box, but also ones where he ran in behind and others he had to create himself with a bit of skill.

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“He has different ways of scoring. Ndiaye was more of a does what he wants style, float around and play off the cuff. Probably more intrinsically skilful. But Archer is a proper forward. His record shows what. I think it’s a great signing.”

A number of Championship sides, including Leeds United, were interested in signing Archer while Luton Town, United’s Premier League rivals, were also interested in signing him on loan. But the striker was keen to play in the Premier League - and show that he is capable of scoring goals at the top level following impressive loan spells at Preston North End and then Boro.

“After what he did at Preston and Boro, it would be counterproductive going into the Championship again,” Wobschall said. “He’s played in a side chasing promotion and at Preston so the Premier League was always the next step, and I think he’ll have that hunger about him. He didn’t quite make it at Villa so far and had a little taste of it at Boro, in a side going for promotion.

“If we’re being hypercritical, he and Akpom didn’t end the season well in the play-offs but that’ll only feed his hunger and to be fair, he did well for the England U21s in the summer [scoring twice as they won the European Championships]. I think he’ll have, not a massive point to prove, but a bit of hunger and determination, as if to say: ‘I can cut it in the Premier League’ and I don’t think that sort of edge about your game is a bad thing.

“I think it’s a great signing, it’ll be interesting to see how he and Hamer go. Archer and Akpom were two class acts at Championship level and Hamer was, too. So if Archer and Hamer get a bit of an understanding going, it could be a big thing in the season. If they can strike up a partnership, I think it could be pretty positive.

“He’s a good age, he’s quick, and he’s quite strong for a little lad as well. He can finish, scores different types of goals, seems a decent enough lad - he’s not a primadonna or anything - and will have a hunger about him. So I think it’s a damn good signing.”