Sheffield United cannot let Gus Hamer transfer drama distract them | OneFootball

A Gus Hamer saga is not the way Ruben Selles will want to kick off his Blades tenure

Despite still being under contract, Gus Hamer’s situation at Sheffield United feels far from certain.

The former Netherlands youth international still has two years left to run on the deal he signed when transferring from Coventry City in 2023.

But the suggestion is that Hamer favours a return to the Premier League rather than another campaign in the Championship, and interest in him is certainly there.

New boss Ruben Selles still has plenty to work out at Bramall Lane, and could do without the distraction of a drawn-out talk about Hamer’s future.

Hamer eyes Premier League

It’s no secret that Hamer would like another shot at the Premier League, having played in the division for one season with the Blades in 2023/24, which ended in relegation.

Dutch site Soccernews revealed they had been told that the 28-year-old wants a move to the English top flight amid interest from PSV, with Leeds United one admirer from top tier, with Everton also reported to have the Dutchman on their shortlist.

And it’s justifiable, too, given that he provided four goals and seven assists for the Blades in that Premier League season, so he is clearly capable at that level.

Now 28 years old, it’s understandable that Hamer wasn’t to spend his peak years in the highest possible division.

Hamer exit would be a difficult start for Selles

Hamer is undoubtedly the Blades’ current best player, having topped the club’s goal involvements chart last term, just as he did in the Premier League the season before.

A whirlwind few months for Selles has seen him sacked by Hull City after avoiding relegation, before being installed at Bramall Lane with promotion the target.

There’s therefore plenty for him to do, not least adapting the current squad to his tactics, helping bed in any new faces and hunting for players to recruit from the market.

With plenty of interest but no concrete direction of travel regarding Hamer, it has the hallmarks of a scenario which could stretch the length of the summer; a distraction Selles could do without dominating his bulging tasklist.

Losing Hamer would hammer home Sunderland defeat pain

With the admission that Hamer’s primary desire is Premier League football, it seems pretty certain that if the Blades had managed to achieve promotion, there would be much less chatter about the Dutchman’s future.

And they had the opportunity in their hands at Wembley in May, in the play-off final against Sunderland, which they entered as favourites.

With just over half an hour gone, the Black Cats had lost captain Luke O’Nien through injury, the Blades had gone one up courtesy of a Hamer-assisted Tyrese Campbell goal and almost doubled their lead but for a tight VAR call.

That remained the case until the last 15 minutes of the game, with it looking like United had eked out a narrow win, before Eliezer Mayenda levelled the game and, crushingly for those in Yorkshire, Tom Watson sealed a stoppage-time winner.

The Blades were on the cusp of Premier League football once more, but had it snatched from under them, ultimately leading to Chris Wilder being replaced by Selles.

Such narrow margins can produce wildly different outcomes and, in the Blades’ case on this occasion, one such consequence could be the loss of their best player, Hamer.

Wherever Hamer ends up next season, Selles will hope that the situation finds a definite outcome sooner rather than later, so that he can firmly plan with or without the creator for his first season in charge at Bramall Lane.