Sheffield United boss Wilder on Webster interest, duo’s futures and ‘fire-sale’ claims | OneFootball

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has confirmed the club are interested in signing free agent Adam Webster.

The defender left Brighton after suffering an ACL injury but Wilder has backed the 31-year-old to make an impact in the near future should the deal be completed.

“I’ve known Adam for a long time and he’s coming off the back of a big injury but not a career ending injury, an ACL, at Brighton and out of contract,” Wilder said.

“You know the market we’re in and were talking about last week, a market of frees and loans, so it’s an interesting one for us.

“He came up for a couple of days, so I can’t really deny that, can I? He’s somebody that is of interest to us.”

Webster would not be ready to play immediately if he joins, with Wilder confirming the former Brighton defender still needs to complete a medical and build up his fitness after missing pre-season.

“He hasn’t had a full pre-season because he’s out of contract, so it’s difficult,” Wilder added.

“If we’re successful with it, we’ll have checked Adam over, he’ll have to complete a medical, and there will be a sensible return date for him to be involved because we want him to be playing if we do agree a deal.”

Wilder is also expecting a busy final week of the transfer window and believes two or three more additions could significantly strengthen his squad.

“I would expect this week to be incredibly busy and all sorts of things happening,” he said.

“Two or three [new signings] for me will really push us into a better place than we are at the moment.”

The Blades boss also revealed there has been interest in Rhys Norrington-Davies but stressed Sheffield United will not sanction departures that leave them short.

“There’s been a phone call on Rhys but at the moment he’s with us, he came off the bench on Saturday so we have to make sure that we protect ourselves and are not short for good players, and he is one,” Wilder said.

“There’s been a lot of phone calls for our players as well but we have to make sure that we’re protected and we don’t leave ourselves light.”

Wilder also played down fears of a mass exodus from Bramall Lane, insisting the club are not looking to sell their players.

“There’s no firesale so everybody needs to calm down about that,” he said.

“I don’t want to lose anybody, the club have not told me that we need to move anybody on.”

However, Wilder accepts players could leave if significant offers arrive and the individual wants to move.

“I can’t honestly say that nobody will go because what happens if somebody comes in with £20m or £25m or whatever the number is for a player and that player wants to go,” he added.

Striker Tom Cannon is another who has attracted interest but Wilder confirmed Sheffield United turned down an approach for his services.

“There was a loose approach and it was literally a loose approach by one team last week that was turned down straight away on Tom,” he said.

“I’ve not heard anything over the weekend.

“And as always, dialogue between myself and Steve [Bettis] is open and frequent and I’m absolutely 100% certain that if there’s anything that’s happened, he would have let me know and he’s not.

“So, Tom’s with us.”