Sheffield United transfer signalled Premier League return - it cost £1.1m per goal | OneFootball

Lys Mousset arrived at Sheffield United with plenty of promise and a hefty price tag, but couldn't live up to it at Bramall Lane

When Sheffield United were promoted to the Premier League in 2019, ending a 12-year exile from the top flight, the Blades had to throw some money about to compete.

The Blades broke their transfer record four times in the summer of 2019 in an effort to stay up, and they were successful in that bid — finishing in the top half in the 2019/20 campaign. Plus, they were an outside shot for a European place when Covid hit.

However, ironically enough, not many of those record-breaking signings really stood out.

Luke Freeman was the first, arriving in excess of £3 million from QPR. He made 11 appearances that season and was loaned out to the Championship in the following campaign. Callum Robinson, who broke that record, lasted just half a season before being loaned out to West Brom.

Then came the two strikers who followed. Oli McBurnie ended the window as the new club record signing, arriving for £20 million from Swansea City. But before then, Lys Mousset arrived from Bournemouth for £10 million.

For record arrivals, both were massively underwhelming, but Mousset more so, scoring just six times in the Premier League and nine times in his entire Blades career. In his three-year stint at Bramall Lane, he ended up costing Sheffield United £1.1 million per goal scored.

Lys Mousset's uneventful spell at Sheffield United

A few eyebrows were raised when it was announced that Mousset was the striker that Sheffield United had broken their transfer record once more to bring in from Bournemouth.

The Frenchman had experience playing in the top flight, which was needed for a Blades side who, three years ago, were playing in League One.

But three goals in three seasons at the Vitality Stadium didn't jump off the page, and there were questions asked as to why he was being signed, and how the Cherries managed to make a profit on the £5.7 million they paid French side Le Havre three years after he arrived in England.

But the 23-year-old was mainly a bench option at Bournemouth, and there were hopes that a more prominent role in the Blades set-up would result in more goals. In the end, Mousset ended the 2019/20 campaign as Sheffield United's top scorer, but with just six goals.

The Blades' first campaign back in the Premier League was highlighted by strong defensive performances. The likes of John Lundstram, John Fleck, John Egan and Dean Henderson, among others, were the heroes of their ninth-placed finish, not Mousset.

Then, when the defensive strength wasn't there to be seen during the second campaign, Sheffield United needed more out of their record-breaking strikers. McBurnie scored just once, new record-signing Rhian Brewster didn't score at all, and Mousset struggled with injury and played just 11 times.

The French forward missed the opening nine games through a toe injury, and when he came back, he managed just two starts before then having another 10-game hiatus due to being unfavoured.

The Blades finished dead last, scoring just 20 times, and Mousset continued to battle injury in their first season back in the Championship, scoring three times in just seven second-tier games, before being loaned out to Torino during the second half of the campaign and then being released at the end of the season.

Lys Mousset never lived up to £10 million price tag at Sheffield United

There's always a weight of expectation when a striker moves for an eight-figure fee, especially if that fee breaks a club record.

Unfortunately, Mousset was solid, if not unremarkable, and that wasn't good enough for the amount expected of him, and many critics will put him down as one of the many transfer mistakes that Sheffield United made during their two-year stay in the Premier League between 2019 and 2021.

The various injury issues which have plagued the Frenchman since he departed Bramall Lane in 2022 are well documented. He played just 11 times for Nimes in the French second tier before suffering an Achilles injury, and then had his contract terminated at German side Bochum.

A brief career resurgence in Ireland with Bohemians followed, but that lasted just nine games before he departed once more.

His time at Bramall Lane seems a million miles away now. A £10 million price tag was arguably too lofty at the time, and looking back, it seems a massive waste today.