Sheffield United summer transfer approach as Paul Heckingbottom makes admission about his plans

Paul Heckingbottom's transfer focus in the summer will be on improving the first team squad and not on signing younger players, as many supporters may think. The Blades boss revealed quite soon into his reign that the ideal scenario is to have two players per outfield position competing for places, with a bank of youngsters underneath providing cover.

The Sheffield United squad was trimmed in January, with three senior players going out on loan in Oli Burke, Luke Freeman and Lys Mousset, while Adlene Guedioura had his contract cancelled and academy graduate Regan Slater joined Hull. The recent injury crisis tested the squad's depth during a congested fixture period and a number of young players were thrown in to Championship action.

The likes of Kyron Gordon, Femi Seriki, Daniel Jebbison and Will Osula have all tasted first team action with many more making the numbers up on the bench. While that's been great for the club and that exposure at first team level has been of benefit to those players, by his own admission earlier in the week, that pool of young players is not at the standard required to be competing for regular first team action right now.

With that in mind, will he be changing his approach in the summer with one eye on bringing in more experienced youngsters from outside, or will his budget be spent solely on the first team?

"No, we'll be recruiting for the first team squad, that's what we'll be recruiting for," he told Yorkshire Live.

Talented young Dundee defender Luke Graham this week joined on trial. The 18-year-old is also said to be attracting interest from Celtic, Arsenal and Rangers.

Heckingbottom said fans should not read too much into his arrival at the Randox Health Academy. He is part of an