FLW’s Blades fan pundit has spoken about which player he believes the club should cash in on over the summer
With a string of dreadful performances and crushing losses in equal measure, the Blades gave themselves little chance of making it through the top level during their one and only season back in the Premier League, much to the dismay of everyone associated with the team.
The team that placed second in the second tier in 2022–2023 would always have an uphill battle, but neither Blades fan Chris Wilder, who is back at the club for a second term as manager, nor Paul Heckingbottom could pull off an upset.
While the two managers have faced criticism at different times during the season, including an unfavourable record of the most goals given up in the Premier League, the fans have also voiced their opinions on a number of disappointing performers on the pitch.
Vini Souza, a Brazilian midfielder, was one of the new players that the Steel City welcomed in the summer of 2016. He reportedly paid £10 million to leave Belgian second division team Lommel SK.
Even though United was humiliated to barely make it back to the Championship, players like Gustavo Hamer, who also joined the team from Coventry City last summer, occasionally showed glimpses of brilliance.
Speaking of Souza, Owain Wyse, a Sheffield United fan pundit for Football League World, has expressed his dissatisfaction with the 24-year-old’s performances in red and white and stated that he would be content to see him leave over the summer.
This perspective also follows reports from last month that suggested Souza is one of four players that are anticipated to quit the team after relegation.
Alan Nixon announced on Patreon that Souza, Anel Ahmedhodzic, Anis Slimane, and Benie Traore are all free agents prior to the start of the new campaign. The report also stated that the central midfield player will not be included in the team because he did not perform well in the Premier League.
Since then, no teams have been publicly associated with the guy who felt that his exclusion from the Brazil squad in March was due to the club’s low standing in the league last season.
“Not on account of me, , but because of the situation at my club. I think that for the national team it’s a bit of a problem,” he told Coluna do Fla, relayed by the Sheffield Star.
In light of Souza’s apparent one-season exit and the impending contract expiration of long-serving Ollie Norwood, Wilder must completely overhaul his squad’s engine room if he wants the Blades to be a strong contender for promotion come next season.
Marc Leonard of Brighton & Hove Albion is one player who has been mentioned as a possible transfer. The Seagulls are rumoured to be asking merely £300,000 for Leonard, who had a stellar two seasons at Wilder’s last team, Northampton Town.
On that front, though, they might have fierce competition from Birmingham City, who were just demoted; according to Alan Nixon, negotiations to recruit the 22-year-old as their first summer acquisition have begun.
With three years remaining on Souza’s contract, the club needs to make every effort to at least secure a sizable amount. It is unclear which other midfield alternatives are on the shortlist.
