Selfish Sheffield United reaction given to Tom Cannon transfer decision - Preston would have been a "brilliant" move | OneFootball

FLW Fan Pundit Jimmy believes that Sheffield United made the right decision in ensuring Tom Cannon has remained at Bramall Lane.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Sheffield United have endured a woeful start to the 2025/26 Championship campaign, with a lot of change at Bramall Lane going on, on and off the field, over the summer. One man that has been retained, though, is Tom Cannon, despite late transfer interest.

The Blades missed out on a return to the Premier League with a late-season collapse and then a dramatic 2-1 loss to Sunderland in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium.

Chris Wilder has since left South Yorkshire once again, replaced by former Hull City and Reading boss Ruben Selles, with United seeking to shake things up with their squad and seemingly start from scratch.

On the final day of the summer transfer window, Preston North End reportedly made a move for United striker Tom Cannon, but a deal never came to fruition.

Sheffield United told that they were right to keep Tom Cannon

Sheffield United have had a very busy summer and the recent addition of Danny Ings on a free transfer, following his departure from West Ham United, has provided United with extra attacking depth.

It has forced Cannon down the pecking order a little bit, though, but despite that, and despite Preston seeking the return of the former Leicester City attacker, FLW Fan Pundit Jimmy, of Blades Ramble, believes it is the right call by the club to keep him.

Jimmy says: “It’s a tricky one, really, with Tom Cannon.

“For him as an individual, it’s a brilliant move, and in a lot of ways for the club, having your third striker’s big wages covered and also the chance for him to go and play some football, and get some value into his name and get fit and firing, and hopefully do well, because he’s done well at Preston, all that is positive.

“But, it would have left us short, and it would have meant we would have had to get a replacement in because he is third choice behind Danny Ings and Tyrese Campbell, but both of those players have a history of injury problems.

“Even if one of them gets injured, you don’t want to just play the other one for 90 minutes week in, week out. It would have just left us too short.

“Ultimately, the club has made the right decision. Even though it would have been a good move for him as an individual, and perhaps for the club in the long-term in terms of retaining his value, but it just wasn’t needed for the squad at the moment.”

Sheffield United have had a very busy end to the summer

After a slow start as a result of trying to get their ducks in a row, Sheffield United have experienced an extremely busy end to the summer transfer window with four new arrivals on deadline day.

Alex Matos joined on a permanent deal from Chelsea, with Mark McGuinness moving for an undisclosed fee from Luton Town, whilst Chiedozie Ogbene signed on loan from Ipswich Town and Ben Mee joined on a free transfer, following his departure from Brentford.

In the closing days of the window, United also brought in Japhet Tanganga and Tahith Chong from Millwall and Luton Town respectively, as well as the signing of Ings.

Ben Godfrey also moved on loan from Atalanta earlier on in August, alongside Nils Zetterstrom, joining for an undisclosed fee from Swedish champions Malmo.

Their early summer business saw the undisclosed fee arrivals of Ehije Ukaki and Mihail Polendakov from Bulgarian sides Botev Plovdiv and Septemvri Sofia, as well as Djibril Soumare signing on loan from Braga.

Selles was granted a reunion with former Reading centre-back Tyler Bindon, joining on loan from Nottingham Forest, and former Hull City attacker Louie Barry, joining on loan from Aston Villa.

In the end, despite Jack Robinson leaving really late in the day (something that was afforded due to Sheffield United signing depth at centre-back), retention was important on the final day of the window and keeping Cannon was included in that.