Will Osula closing in on Newcastle United transfer switch with Sheffield United set for handy cash windfall

Will Osula is in the north-east today to finalise his move to Newcastle United as Sheffield United prepare to receive a healthy cash windfall for the young striker. The Premier League side have agreed to pay an eight-figure fee, plus add-ons, for the Denmark youth international this summer.

United were not actively looking to sell the striker but he, like every player at Bramall Lane, had a valuation and once Newcastle agreed to meet that price, the deal moved quickly late last week. As The Star revealed last week, Sturm Graz were also interested in Osula while United’s Championship rivals Norwich City were also considering an approach, but both would have only paid around half the fee that United will initially receive.

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Osula has travelled north to put the finishing touches to the deal, with Unitedites will hope means that boss Chris Wilder can push the button on a few of the transfer deals he has lined up ahead of the start of the new Championship campaign this Friday evening at Preston North End. But United also needed at least one significant sale to manage the financial blow of dropping out of the Premier League, which was expected to be either Vini Souza or Anel Ahmedhodzic.

But both those men remain at Bramall Lane just days before the start of the new campaign, with Osula’s departure something of a surprise. Jayden Bogle had already been prised away earlier in the window, by potential promotion rivals Leeds United, while United’s wage bill has been slashed considerably by the departure of some of the club’s highest earners.

Osula’s departure does mean that there is another space in Wilder’s squad to fill, with just five incomings so far this season to replace the 16 players who so far have left this summer - with Osula soon to become 17. As well as a couple of forward players United are also short in the right-back and centre-half areas and could use more options in the wide areas to suit Wilder’s 4-2-3-1 formation that he utilised throughout the Blades’ unbeaten pre-season campaign.