Exclusive: Sky Sports pundit reacts to Sheffield United, Prince Abdullah news | OneFootball

Speaking exclusively to FLW, Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie has said that the return of Prince Abdullah to Sheffield United could be good for the club.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Sky Sports Pundit Lee Hendrie has confirmed that he believes that the mooted return of Prince Abdullah to Sheffield United could be good news for the Blades.

Without a goal in their last four games and still rooted to the foot of the Championship without a point to their name, this has been a calamitous start to the 2025-26 season for Sheffield United.

The Blades only narrowly missed out on a quick return to the Premier League at the end of last season and had been among the favourites to go up this time around, but five straight defeats in the league have put that ambition on ice.

The Blades sacked Chris Wilder in June following their play-off disappointment, replacing him with Ruben Selles, but Selles was fired following last Friday's 5-0 defeat at Ipswich Town, leading to the shock return of Wilder to Bramall Lane.

But this isn't the only change that's being considered behind the scenes at the club, with rumours that Prince Abdullah, who sold the Blades to COH Sports last year, could also be set to return to the club.

Football League World have spoken exclusively to Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie about this mooted return, and he's confident that it could be good news for the Blades: "I think coming into the football club and having a bit of a different role, it might suit, it might work, lots of people say yes, lots of people say no. This is where the club has to decide what way they can go forward. It's got to work for every aspect of the football club, hasn't it? The fans are massive there and they have a really big pull."

Hendrie feels that Sheffield United should be a Premier League club, and that Abdullah's input could help the Blades to get back on track: "But yes, this might be good for the football club, I think. It's got a great squad, it's a big football club, it should be in the Premier League. Sometimes it just needs that bit more advice and, obviously, he knows the football club, so it could be a good shout."

Prince Abdullah's knowledge of Sheffield United could seriously benefit the club

Abdullah's sale of Sheffield United in 2024 marked the end of an association which stretched back more than a decade. The Saudi Prince bought a 50% share in the club alongside former chairman Kevin McCabe in September 2013, but after negotiations to buy McCabe's shareholding floundered, the matter ended up in the High Court, where Abdullah won and was given the opportunity to buy McCabe's shares for just £5 million. He sold the club to the American group COH in November 2024.

But the Sheffield Star has reported that Abdullah could be on his way back to Bramall Lane, with the club's new owners open to him being there in an advisory capacity or as a minority shareholder, though they warn that, "there are no guarantees that Prince Abdullah will return to Bramall Lane in any capacity at this stage."

What's clear is that everything that COH have attempted to get the Blades on track has failed. The decision to sack Chris Wilder has already been reversed, and there's been no on-pitch evidence that their decision to employ an AI-model for player selection in the transfer market has worked, either. It might just be that the real intelligence and deep knowledge of Sheffield United that Prince Abdullah has might just trump the Artificial Intelligence which has shown few indications of having done the club any good over the summer.