Sheffield United open talks with Nottingham Forest for Joe Worrall | OneFootball

The Blades may be looking to splash some of their limited transfer budget on the defender.

Highlights

Sheffield United have began talks with Nottingham Forest over the potential purchase of central defender, and long-term transfer target, Joe Worrall, as per TeamTALK.

Money is limited at Bramall Lane. There is a pretty clear understanding among those inside and outside of the club that this summer isn't going to be a hugely exciting one in terms of transfers at the club.

They are working on a tight budget, and the majority of signings are likely to be free agents and loans.

One key aspect that they have identified is wanting to recruit players with experience in order to balance the squad, which is going to feature younger players like Oli Arblaster much more frequently next season.

United have been linked with former Luton Town defender, and now free agent, Gabriel Osho, although the club's current takeover talks have put any deal for him on hold as they cannot commit to giving him a contract until they know what's going on with the club's finances, according to Alan Nixon.

The takeover has also affected two sets of contract talks with out-of-contract BladesBen Osborn and Oli McBurnie.

They aren't the only ones who aren't in a great monetary state though, and United look as if they're trying to benefit from the shortcomings of others as they pursue a deal for Worrall.

Sheffield United open Joe Worrall talks with Nottingham Forest

TEAMtalk have reported that the Blades are now in discussion with the Premier League side over acquiring the experienced centre-back, who is believed to be keen on a move to the Championship side.

Football Insider had reported, earlier in the month, that there was interest from United in Worrall, but it now appears that the prospective deal has moved to the next stage.

The 27-year-old had been out of sorts with the management at Forest and was loaned out to Turkish club Besiktas in the winter transfer window. But reports at the time suggested that he was close to moving to Bramall Lane.

He didn't feature much for the former Süper Lig winners, only making half-a-dozen league appearances.

Chris Wilder is a fan of Worrall's, according to TEAMtalk, and they may be able to get a deal done more easily because of Forest's potential problems with their Profit & Sustainability standings.

The Telegraph reported that they will need to generate £20 million from player sales before the end of June to make sure they don't breach financial regulations.

Joe Worrall would be a welcome addition for Sheffield United

Defensively, the Blades were all over the shop last season. They broke the record for the most goals conceded by one team in a Premier League season.

Worrall would, of course, go some way to helping them restabilise at the back, but he also has experience of getting promoted from the Championship.

Given the big overhaul that Wilder would ideally like to enact this summer, on the playing staff side of things, a lot of the players that won promotion with them in the 22/23 season won't be there soon enough, so they will lose a lot of that knowhow.

It may not be quite so likely next season, unless the new owners come in quickly and give them more money to work with, but promotion back to the top flight is the ultimate goal.