Bizarre Sheffield United contract U-turn confirmed - "It's a bad thing that we're going back" | OneFootball

Sheffield United are expected to agree terms with Jairo Riedewald, even though they announced he would be leaving the club in May.

Sheffield United are set for a huge few months as Chris Wilder looks to build another team that can win promotion to the Premier League.

It has been a difficult few years for the Blades, and another year outside the top flight has financial implications for the Yorkshire club, so Wilder won’t be working on a huge budget.

The boyhood fan has shown that hasn’t been a problem in the past, and there will be a belief at Bramall Lane that they can benefit from the extended play-off format that has been introduced.

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However, it’s clear that a lot of work needs to be done to the squad, and Sheffield United have already had to make one big decision, as Andre Brooks joined Norwich City in a big-money deal.

That should give the Blades more wriggle room when it comes to new additions, but Wilder will still be searching for bargains, and one player who looks set to join the club on a free transfer is Jairo Riedewald.

This was a surprising development, as the ex-Crystal Palace man was with Sheffield United last season, and the club announced back in May that he would be leaving when his contract expired.

Now, though, Riedewald has been confirmed as a Blades player once more on a new one-year deal, in what is a remarkable turnaround in the matter of a few weeks.

Naturally, the change in tact had many wondering why there was such a change in heart, and if Riedewald would have been happy to come back.

And, when FLW put that to Sheffield United fan pundit Jimmy from the Blades Ramble YouTube channel, he admitted that we won’t know the exact reason for the change, but, purely from a football perspective, he would welcome Riedewald back to the club with open arms.

“I understand the rhetoric about this being a u-turn, that he wasn’t first-choice, and that we’d already chosen to release him, and is it a bad thing that we’re going back," Jimmy told FLW.

“Ultimately, though, we don’t know the reasons. We can speculate the reason we didn’t renew his contract previously.

"A lot of people say he doesn’t appear to be that robust, as he didn’t do many 90 minutes for Sheffield United. We also know Riedewald will be on a good wage, and we have to cut our cloth accordingly now we’re no longer a parachute team.

“I think it was either a finance or fitness decision previously, or maybe both!

"But what you can’t doubt about Riedewald is his quality. Whenever he played, he was one of the most consistent players we had, and a lot of the time, during a difficult season, he was one of the first names on the team-sheet.

“So, you won’t have any complaints from me with Riedewald coming back to Bramall Lane, I think it’s a great move!”

Jairo Riedewald can have a big role to play for Sheffield United

There’s no denying that it was surprising to hear that Sheffield United were in talks to sign Riedewald after previously confirming he would be released.

But, these things happen in football, and, as outlined above, we don’t know the exact details of how this came about.

Most would agree that Riedewald was a reliable, solid player for the Blades last season, which is the most important thing, so, in that sense, this is a smart deal for Wilder.

Riedewald will bring physicality in the middle of the park, he is disciplined with his positional play, and he is efficient in how he uses the ball.

Again, Sheffield United saw this first-hand, and many were unhappy when he was leaving, as they felt he could have a big role to play moving forward.

So, even if it was a twist few saw coming, this could turn out to be good business for Sheffield United.