Sheffield United complete signing of Ayew as winger departs | OneFootball

Sheffield United have completed the signing of experienced forward Jordan Ayew on a one-year deal, while Ehije Ukaki has joined Bulgarian side Botev Plovdiv on loan.

The Blades needed to create space in their 25-man squad to bring in another forward and Ukaki has now returned to his former club in the Bulgarian top flight for the remainder of the season.

The 21-year-old winger joined Sheffield United from Botev in the summer of 2025 but made just one first-team appearance, in the Carabao Cup, before also spending time on loan in Greece.

His departure has allowed Chris Wilder to add Ayew to his squad, with the 34-year-old available on a free transfer after leaving Leicester City at the end of last season.

The Ghana international arrives at Bramall Lane having featured at this summer’s World Cup, starting all four of his country’s games as they reached the knockout stages.

“I spoke last week about being close to getting someone in from the free agent market and things did move quite quickly, so I am really pleased to have Jordan with us,” Wilder said.

“We’re talking about someone here with bags of experience from right at the top level of the game. Only a few months ago he was captaining Ghana in the World Cup, so he’s someone with real pedigree.

“He did well at this level last season in difficult circumstances and has played all across the front positions during his career, which gives us plenty of options.

“We used the free market to great effect last season, and we believe Jordan can come in and have an impact here just like Pat [Bamford] and Jaïro [Riedewald] did.”

Ayew revealed the move came together quickly after receiving a call from Wilder while he was in Ghana.

“I’m really, really pleased to be here,” he said. “The manager and the club made a great effort to get me here as quick as possible, so I want to thank everyone for their support and hopefully we’ll have a great season.

“It happened really, really quick because I was in Ghana and the manager called me last week.

“I didn’t think twice, I just took the opportunity. The most important thing is for me to help the team and obviously for us to have a great season.

“I have a lot of desire this season to make an impact and to help the team because we have a good squad and there’s a lot of positive things we can do.”