Don Goodman will have made Sheffield United feel even worse about Ruben Selles transfer decisions | OneFootball

Don Goodman's Kieffer Moore and Ollie McBurnie verdict will make Sheffield United feel worse about letting the pair depart Bramall Lane

Ex-Sheffield United striker duo Kieffer Moore and Oli McBurnie have been amongst the most dangerous players in the Championship this season - the Blades will surely be having niggling regrets about letting them go.

For Sheffield United, they have severely struggled this season at the top end of the pitch, and, as a whole, for that matter. But goalscoring has been a key part of their game which has been lacking as the Blades have merely found the net 11 times in their opening 15 league matches.

It's been evident to see that they are in dire need of more creativity at the top end of the pitch, especially in the No.9 position, to give the flair players in their ranks such as the likes of Gus Hamer and Callum O'Hare a target man who is reliable at finding the back of the net.

The Blades have lacked that this season as Tyreece Campbell has struggled to find any real form in front of goal, and therefore could be regretting a couple of transfer mishaps over the past couple of years.

Referring to ex-Blades, Kieffer Moore and Oli McBurnie, because of the fine form that they are in this season, you'd like to think that United may not be stuck in a rut right now if they had even one of the two talismen.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Sky Sports pundit, Don Goodman, ranks the Wrexham and Hull City forwards as two of the four best out-and-out strikers in the EFL Championship. An opinion that Sheffield United fans would certainly not want to hear, especially after having the chance to resign McBurnie as a free agent.

Sheffield United have major transfer regret by letting Kieffer Moore and Oli McBurnie depart Bramall Lane

With goals being hard to come by for the Blades this season, that certainly hasn't been the case for a couple of their former strikers, Moore and McBurnie, who have been two of the most in-form attackers in the league in the 2025/26 campaign.

For Moore, since making the move to the Red Dragons in the summer for a fee of £2m, he has hit the ground running for the side from North Wales with seven goals and one assist to his name in 15 appearances.

As for McBurnie, after a stint in Spain with Las Palmas, he has rediscovered his goalscoring abilities with the Tigres, with six goals and three assists in just 10 games, just shy of a goal contribution per 90. It goes without saying that if the Blades had either one of the Welshman or Scotsman still at their disposal, then they may not be in the relegation zone right now.

However, the Blades did in fact make an attempt to resign McBurnie in the summer, but that approach was rejected along with other clubs trying to sign the 29-year-old.

McBurnie joined the Blades back in 2019 for a whopping fee of £17.5m and goals were hard to come by for him other than in the 2022/23 season where he scored 13 league goals. But taking his whole Blades career into consideration, the impact that he had off the back of the hefty transfer fee made the price tag unjustified.

Fast-forward to now, and according to Don Goodman, he believes that both strikers rank amongst the very best in the division. As he said: "Kieffer Moore would be a nightmare to play against, Oli McBurnie the same. Shame for Hull that he got injured."

With McBurnie suffering a calf injury that has kept him out of action since the latter stages of October, the Scotsman is expected to be out until the return from the international break. But for Moore, he remains to be fit and firing, much to Sheffield United's dismay, as even though he is now 33 years of age, Wrexham seems to have landed a gem for a small fee of £2m.

Natural goalscorers have been lacking for Chris Wilder due to Ruben Selles' transfer mishap

In terms of the options Sheffield United have now, Campbell seems like the obvious first choice striker for Chris Wilder in his 4-2-3-1 formation, but when opting to play with two strikers, whether that's in a 3-back or a 4-4-2, the young Tom Cannon has been a decent option but just like Campbell has struggled to find the net on a regular basis.

Due to not being able to secure McBurnie's services once again in the summer, the Blades resorted to signing the Premier League proven Danny Ings, who even with vast amounts of experience at Southampton, Burnley and Aston Villa to name a few, seems to be very much past his best in comparison to Moore of a similar age.

The Blades' top goalscorer so far this season has been O'Hare on four goals, who has been the standout player in the midst of a time of turmoil, closely followed by Campbell on three. Take away their contributions and that means only four goals have been scored from other areas, highlighting the need for a player like Moore or McBurnie who can be an ever-present figure at the top end of the pitch to cause defenses problems and ultimately win games.

All in all, Blades fans will be shaking their heads at the fact that their ex-striker duo are doing so well in pastures new, but won't help but think that their season could have replicated something close to their last, had Ruben Selles been smarter in his transfer decisions.