Sheffield United double transfer swoop was a masterstroke - it included Coventry City agreement | OneFootball

John Fleck and Jack O'Connell signed in the summer of 2016, and went on to have major impacts at Bramall Lane

While they have be on the cusp of a return to the Premier League this season, Sheffield United had fallen upon dire straits a decade ago, with the club languishing in the third tier.

What many had thought would just be a blip ended up being a six-season residency in League One, with a trio of failed play-off attempts preventing the Blades from a return to the Championship.

Things needed changing, and the summer of 2016 saw two additions to the squad who would go on to have major contributions to the side during their time at Bramall Lane, with an extraordinary rise coming in the three years to follow.

John Fleck, Jack O’Connell arrivals spearhead Sheffield United promotion charge

Having finished in mid-table the season before, Chris Wilder was looking to shake up his side for the 2016/16 campaign, with a number of players coming through the door in the hope of putting a promotion campaign together.

Early July saw two players walk through the door in Jack O’Connell and John Fleck, with the pair signing three-year deals with the club after signing from Brentford and Coventry City respectively.

"I'm delighted that the board have backed this signing because Jack is an exciting talent," Wilder told the club website.

"John is an outstanding midfield player in League One and we believe he can play at a higher level."

Both of those statements would prove to be true over the years that followed, with the Blades taking the third tier by storm in that following campaign, with the duo playing their part in a rampant side that lost just six games all season.

With Billy Sharp banging in the goals at the other end, Fleck and O’Connell proved to be mainstays throughout the campaign, with the former contributing 15 assists to his teammates, with his delivery from set-pieces proving lethal.

Both players looked more than capable of making the step-up to the second tier when promotion was confirmed, and so it proved, as the Blades easily adapted to the rigours of the division above, taking everything in their stride as they finished in the top half of the division the season after.

Sheffield United's League One investment earns Premier League promotion

Just three years after joining the club in the depths of League One, Fleck and O’Connell had played their part in a dramatic promotion push, with Wilder masterminding the success at Bramall Lane.

It was no surprise to see Fleck pulling the strings in the midfield once again, with the Scotsman the lynchpin to everything that went right for United, with possession more often than not passing through him when attacks began to flow.

Once again, his delivery into the penalty area gave teammates ample opportunity to score, while a dynamic approach going forward allowed threats in the final third from all manner of positions.

O’Connell was a fine example of that tactic working wonderfully, with the centre-back being utilised in a novel underlapping method from Wilder, making barnstorming runs on the perimeter of the penalty area a regular occurrence at Bramall Lane, with the Blades often benefitting from those overloads up top.

Not only were the Steel City outfit exuberant going forward, but they were staunch in their defensive efforts, with no side conceding less than the 41 goals they shipped that season, with O’Connell carrying out his duties at the other end of the field with the professionalism expected of him.

With another promotion under their belt, Wilder continued to show faith in a number of the side that cantered to the League One title three seasons before upon entering the Premier League, with that unity and togetherness taking the top flight by storm in the 19/20 campaign.

As ever, many had predicted the sides that come up from the Championship to struggle, but United were putting that lazy rhetoric to bed upon their return to the top flight, with their swashbuckling style of play winning plenty of admirers and just as many points throughout the campaign.

The Blades showed no respect to whoever they came up against. They were on a par with each and every side that season, with Fleck and O’Connell still there leading the way against the best the country had to offer.

That would ultimately be the high watermark for both players, but O’Connell’s demise came quicker than anyone thought, with a knee injury forcing his retirement just months after that ninth-placed finish, while Fleck continued to patrol the midfield for years to come.

The Scot would be pivotal to another successful promotion campaign in the 22/23 campaign, before waving his goodbyes to the club last winter after seven-and-a-half-years in the red and white.

With over 400 league appearances between them, the summer of 2016 proved to be a history-making summer for Sheffield United, as they signed two of the club’s finest servants in their history and reaped the rewards as a result.