Sheffield United must take player action in January – Preston will surely be keen on £25k-a-week man | OneFootball

Tom Cannon should seek Sheffield United departure in January with former club Preston North End surely interested.

It has been a woeful start to the season for Sheffield United and a busy January transfer window is in prospect for the Blades, but in order to do business freely they will likely still have to raise some funding, or at least clear space in a bloated squad.

As FLW recently exclusively revealed, a clear out is on the cards at Sheffield United when it comes to their loan players, and one other who remains one of the better and more saleable assets, but would perhaps not be a departure that hurts United too much, could be striker Tom Cannon.

Sheffield United narrowly missed out on automatic promotion in the Championship last season before succumbing to a dramatic late turnaround against Sunderland in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium.

Chris Wilder was replaced by former Reading and Hull City boss Ruben Selles, but a shocking start to the campaign has seen Wilder return, albeit not necessarily with the major improvement that was required.

There have been slightly better performances, but their inconsistency is too much, and their floor is too low, with a transformation of the squad, to raise the quality and to find some cohesion, is required in the winter.

One man that should be shown the door at Bramall Lane is Cannon, and he would perhaps be the ideal signing for former Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom at Preston North End.

Sheffield United must cut ties with Tom Cannon in January

In the January 2025 transfer window, Sheffield United managed to agree a £10 million deal with Leicester City to sign striker Tom Cannon, with the hope that the Ireland international would propel the Blades to the Premier League after looking sharp on loan with Stoke City.

Never really entrusted by Wilder, who heavily rotated throughout the second-half of last season, Cannon never got going at Bramall Lane and has continued to struggle into this season in South Yorkshire.

Having been on loan at Stoke in the first-half of the 2024/25 campaign, Cannon often impressed with four goals in a 6-1 defeat of Portsmouth, the standout performance in a stint whereby he notched nine times before the mid-way part of the season.

At United, though, Cannon scored just one goal, in a 2-1 loss to Burnley as the Clarets confirmed promotion to the Premier League on Easter Monday in April.

This season, Cannon has made just four starts, having been shifted out-wide on occasion by Selles, and he has struggled to make an impact back up-front for Wilder.

Having been underwhelming when starting as the striker in a recent 3-1 defeat to Coventry City, the 22-year-old was then an unused substitute in their goalless draw against Queens Park Rangers prior to the November international break.

Veteran striker Danny Ings appears to be a favoured option for Wilder, alongside Tyrese Campbell, and Cannon, for the fee he commanded and, on estimated wages of £25,000 per week, according to Capology, it appears to be a wasted investment already for the Blades.

Preston would be an ideal solution for Tom Cannon and Sheffield United

Whether it be on loan or on a permanent deal, it does appear as almost an inevitability that Cannon should depart United this winter.

He signed a four-and-a-half-year contract for a hefty fee as recently as January and so Preston, who were linked with Cannon in the summer, would have to produce a significant outlay, albeit even a loan deal would surely suit all parties, with United hopeful of Cannon either rediscovering his spark to return to the club or have his value re-inflated to be sold on.

Preston, for their part, would have further attacking ammunition and potential to try and continue their surprise promotion push in the second-tier, under the management of Heckingbottom.

Cannon, who made three Premier League appearances for Everton before joining Leicester in the summer of 2023, spent the second-half of the 2022/23 season on loan at Deepdale from the Toffees.

During that stint, Preston appeared to have unearthed a real gem as he scored eight goals in 20 appearances prior to another big-money move to the Foxes.

Preston could benefit from his struggles with the Foxes and then the Blades to opportunistically move for a player with potential to fire them to the top two.

Following the departure of Emil Riis on a free transfer to Bristol City in the summer, Preston were able to bring in Michael Smith from Sheffield Wednesday and Daniel Jebbison on loan from AFC Bournemouth, but neither have been prolific for the impressive Lancastrians.

Milutin Osmajic, who recently received a nine-match ban for an alleged racist insult directed at Hannibal Mejbri last season, is the club's top scorer alongside Lewis Dobbin, with both players on four goals across all competitions, from 13 and 12 appearances respectively.

Heckingbottom is known for getting results with a fairly reactive and defensive style, which should allow Smith to thrive as a key target man, but a more effective and efficient striker to play off Smith could be the key to sustaining their promotion challenge, with the likes of Dobbin, Jebbison and even attacking midfielder Mads Frokjaer-Jensen having partnered the former Owls striker in a 3-5-2 shape this year, as well as Osmajic.

Even though Osmajic will be available by January, North End are still likely to look to add some much-needed firepower in the final third and Cannon could fill that void.