Opinion: Why Sheffield United should not be putting defender at the top of their transfer targets list

Sheffield United are still keeping tabs on centre-back Filip Uremovic despite seeing him depart Bramall Lane, according to this week’s report from The Star.

The 25-year-old first arrived in South Yorkshire in the latter stages of March, with FIFA enabling foreign players to move away from Russia following the invasion of Ukraine and Uremovic was one player that decided to temporarily suspend his contract at Rubin Kazan.

With the governing body yet to issue a fresh update on their next steps though with the war still ongoing, Uremovic faces an uncertain future and there’s even the possibility that he will remain with Kazan beyond this summer.

However, they have been relegated from the Russian top tier and with that, Leonid Slutsky’s side may decide it’s the right time to cash in on the Croatian who isn’t likely to be on a modest salary at the Ak Bars Arena.

If they are able to sell him, it remains to be seen whether the Blades’ hierarchy will fork out the money needed to lure him to Bramall Lane on a permanent basis, something that may not be the case considering their limited amount of spending since their return to the Championship.

In fact, the only player they spent a transfer fee on in the past two windows is Adam Davies, who arrived for a reported £250,000.

The potential sale of Sander Berge in the coming months may give them the funds needed to recruit the centre-back – but United’s coaching staff are keen to keep hold of the Norwegian and they aren’t under pressure to sell him either with two years left on his contract.

If they don’t sell him though, something that’s possible considering he’s likely to be the subject of less intense interest this summer compared to last year, that could limit their budget.

FIFA