£12.5k-a-week Sheffield United star set for January exit as Chris Wilder confirms | OneFootball

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has confirmed that Nils Zatterstrom will be allowed to leave the club on loan in the January window.

Chris Wilder has confirmed that Sheffield United will let Nils Zatterstrom leave the club on loan in the January transfer window.

There was a lot of excitement when the Blades sealed a deal worth an initial €3.3m for Zatterstrom from Malmö in the summer, as the 20-year-old was very highly-rated in Sweden.

However, it has been a turbulent first few months in England for the centre-back, not least because Sheffield United sacked Ruben Selles, the man who brought him to the club.

Chris Wilder outlines Sheffield United’s plans for Nils Zatterstrom

Zatterstrom is yet to feature for the Blades since Wilder returned to Bramall Lane, and he has often failed to make the matchday squad.

Therefore, it’s perhaps no surprise that the boss confirmed to journalist Andy Giddings that the defender, who is estimated to earn a base salary of £12.5k-a-week, has been made available to leave on loan ahead of the January transfer window.

Whilst it’s unclear what sort of clubs will be keen on Zatterstrom, you would expect there to be plenty of interest in the youngster, as he has played for Sweden, and he was impressive for Malmö in recent years.

Nils Zatterstrom needs to play regular football at this stage of his development

This is a sensible call from Wilder, as, even with Sheffield United’s issues after he took the job, he didn’t put Zatterstrom in the team.

You would expect the Blades to be in the market for a new centre-back in the window, so that would knock the summer signing further down the pecking order.

It’s far too soon to write Zatterstrom off, but if he is going to fulfil the potential that many felt he had, then he clearly needs to be playing week in, week out.

From the perspective of the player, he will also be desperate to leave Sheffield United on a temporary basis, as he will be frustrated at how this season has gone so far.

Of course, it’s not easy to adapt to a new league and country, and Zatterstrom was bought by the Blades with the long-term in mind, but he would’ve hoped to have featured more than he has done.

It will be interesting to see where Zatterstrom ends up, and whether Wilder wants the player to stay in England if there is an opportunity for him to do that.

Either way, it’s shaping up to be a massive January window for the club, and the boss has made no secret of the fact that he wants to strengthen the squad, so there could be a really high turnover of players, with Zatterstrom one of many who could depart.