Brighton eyeing key Sheffield United player as £20m fee quoted | OneFootball

Brighton are interested in signing Sheffield United midfielder Ollie Arblaster.

Brighton are tracking Sheffield United’s Ollie Arblaster as they continue to target talented young players to improve their squad.

The 21-year-old is highly-rated at Bramall Lane, with Chris Wilder having named the midfielder as captain last summer.

Arblaster quickly established himself as a key player for the Blades, but his season was cut short after he suffered a serious knee injury in November.

Brighton keen on Sheffield United’s Ollie Arblaster

So, the academy graduate has been watching on since then, meaning he couldn’t play a part as Sheffield United suffered a painful play-off final defeat to Sunderland that ended their Premier League dream.

Arblaster will be pushing to return to the team by the time the new season starts, although there are doubts about where he will be playing.

That’s after TEAMTalk revealed that Brighton are keen on the player, having monitored Arblaster prior to his injury going into the January window.

Whilst the update states that Wilder is keen to keep the player at the club, they claim an offer in the region of £20m could tempt the Blades to cash in.

Sheffield United must do all they can to keep Ollie Arblaster

It was always going to be a difficult summer for the Yorkshire outfit after they missed out on promotion, and there’s every chance that they will have to cash in on several key players to balance the books.

The likes of Anel Ahmedhodzic, Vini Souza and Gus Hamer will be the subject of serious speculation, and there will be interest in other members of Wilder’s squad.

However, Sheffield United will surely want to keep hold of Arblaster, and even though Brighton are a good club for young talents, you could argue he would be better served by remaining at Bramall Lane.

This season was hugely frustrating for the player with the knee injury, so he will feel he has unfinished business at a club that is very close to his heart.

Under Wilder, Arblaster knows that he will get regular game time, and he will be a key figure in what could be a new-look squad that will be expected to push for promotion next season. Plus, he will want to rediscover the form he had shown prior to the setback.

As we know, money talks, so a transfer can’t be ruled out, but it would be a surprise if Arblaster does move on, although if they fail to go up in 12 months' time, it could be a different situation entirely.