Sheffield United landed £30m cash windfall from Arsenal in big Blades win | OneFootball

Sheffield United were blessed with landing the £30 million sale of Aaron Ramsdale to Arsenal, despite relegation.

Back in the summer of 2020, Sheffield United were about to embark upon a season that saw them succumb to Premier League relegation, but it wasn’t all bad for the Blades.

That summer transfer window saw them bring in goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale for a fee believed to be in the region of £18.5 million and he shone in goal for the South Yorkshire outfit.

Stoke-born Ramsdale had come through the academies of both Bolton Wanderers and then Sheffield United, turning professional with the latter in 2015.

His first departure from United came just a couple of years later, having made just a couple of FA Cup appearances for the Blades, moving on to AFC Bournemouth in January 2017 for a fee of £800,000.

With the Cherries, Ramsdale headed out on loan moves to Chesterfield and AFC Wimbledon before finally breaking into the side for the 2019/20 season which, again, not as a result of Ramsdale, did end up in Bournemouth’s relegation from the Premier League.

Sheffield United pounced on that and brought in a goalkeeper that would be excellent for them on the pitch but also net them a major profit off the pitch.

Aaron Ramsdale was excellent for Sheffield United despite relegation

In the 2020/21 campaign, Sheffield United were seeking to build on an eighth placed finish in the Premier League but they had lost goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who had been on loan from Manchester United for a couple of years.

Those were big boots to fill but United managed to fill them with someone who would prove to be extremely impressive between the sticks in Aaron Ramsdale.

Sheffield United were woeful and, for the first-half of the campaign at least, were one of the worst teams in Premier League history with just two points collected from their opening 17 matches of the campaign.

Despite their historically poor season, United didn’t have the worst defence in the league, with West Bromwich Albion taking that crown, and they managed to collect 23 points from just 20 goals scored.

That is because of five clean sheets in the second-half of the season that resulted in five 1-0 victories whereby Ramsdale was simply phenomenal in all of them.

Only Sam Johnstone and Illan Meslier managed to make more saves per 90 minutes than Ramsdale, with the Englishman also enjoying an impressive save percentage of 70%.

Sheffield United went down with a relative whimper but that was in spite of the performances of Ramsdale, who had proven his worth between the sticks.

Aaron Ramsdale netted Sheffield United a hefty profit

Southampton v Fulham - St Mary's Stadium, Southampton, Britain - April 26, 2025 Southampton's Aaron Ramsdale reacts Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley

Having shone in what could have easily been a problem position for United, but actually perhaps turned out to be their one bright spark from the season, Ramsdale began the Championship season in net for the Blades.

He made two appearances as they sought to immediately bounce back to the top-flight and, again, he was exceptional in a United side that was struggling to find any rhythm.

A 1-0 loss at home to Birmingham City and then a goalless draw with Swansea City in which games whereby United were hammered were to be Ramsdale’s final two games.

The fact that Sheffield United, pre-season promotion favourites, kept just two more clean sheets in their next 15 matches speaks volumes about the impact that Ramsdale had and was having.

However, despite that need for someone of his quality, it was far more pressing that they recouped some of what they had lost financially and they did that and some with Ramsdale moving to Arsenal for a fee of £30 million in August 2021.

Sheffield United’s aspirations as a club and as a team may have underwhelmed while Ramsdale was at the club but he didn’t let them down whatsoever and also landed them a tidy windfall of cash.