Why Sheffield United may hate what's just happened at Cardiff City | OneFootball

Sheffield United may be secretly gutted to learn of a recent development at League One leaders Cardiff City

Sheffield United are currently bidding to gatecrash the Championship top-six and complete a late-season turnaround to force their way into the promotion reckoning once more, having fallen agonisingly short in the previous campaign's play-off final against Sunderland.

While the Blades were whiskers away from achieving promotion at Wembley back in May after undertaking an almighty, yet ultimately unsuccessful effort to deny either Leeds United or Burnley a Premier League return, a topsy-turvy term has played out this time around at Bramall Lane and the likelihood is that Chris Wilder's men will be playing in the Championship for a third straight campaign in 2026/27.

Recent results have been strong for United, who find themselves in 13th position and nine points shy of sixth-placed Wrexham with 11 games to spare of the season.

However, the considerable traffic and drastic turnaround required means that, while a dramatic entry to the top-six cannot be categorically ruled out, the possibility is growing increasingly thin and it would represent some surprise to see Premier League football hosted in the red-and-white quarters of the Steel City next term.

It is likely, though, that United will be competing with Cardiff City in the 2026/27 Championship season. The Bluebirds suffered relegation to League One last time out but have emerged as the front-runners to return to the second-tier, with Brian Barry-Murphy's side boasting an eleven-point lead over third place at the top of the table.

Cardiff's fortunes in League One may not be all that relevant to Chris Wilder right now, of course, but one freshly-occurring development in the Welsh capital may mark news that those of a Blades persuasion won't want to hear.

Sheffield United may hate Cardiff City, Cian Ashford contract news

That news is the decision of frequent Sheffield United transfer target Cian Ashford to put pen to paper on a new long-term contract in South Wales, which will now keep the Welsh wide-man tied down to his boyhood club until the summer of 2030.

Speculation surrounding Ashford's long-term future has been fuelled in recent windows, with the 21-year-old having been set to find himself out of contract at the end of next term.

However, Ashford's future now appears to lie firmly with the Bluebirds, who acted swiftly to extend his terms in what Barry-Murphy described as a "reward" for "exceptional improvement" on Monday afternoon - two days after he scored his fourth goal of the league campaign in his side's 4-0 win at Doncaster Rovers.

Speaking to Cardiff's official website, the impressive winger explained that: "This means a lot to me. I love playing here and walking out at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm delighted that my future is at Cardiff City."

He's clearly not intending on seeking pastures new anytime soon, which may come as something of a hammer blow to the Blades after they were described as "admirers" of Ashford in the January transfer window in a report from WalesOnline.

That update emerged following links to the Wales under-21 international's signature late on in the previous window, suggesting that he has been something of a long-term target at Bramall Lane under both Ruben Selles and now Wilder.

With Ashford having recorded five goals and three assists across all competitions for the Bluebirds this term after a reasonable breakout season in the Championship, admiring glances from higher up the footballing pyramid will come as no great surprise and the Blades would have surely been tussling with others in an effort to bring the Welshman to South Yorkshire.

However, Cardiff have now put themselves in a strong position regarding Ashford's future and United may be forced into scribbling his name off the wishlist ahead of this summer.

Cardiff City hold all the cards with Cian Ashford - Sheffield United won't like it

Cardiff could have found themselves sweating over Ashford's future if they hadn't resolved it through the agreement of a new long-term contract.

That's because the Bluebirds academy product could well have left on a free transfer in a little over a year's time, which would have limited City to receiving a compensation fee for his services far beneath the actual market value at play.

Such an occurrence won't be unfolding now, though, and Cardiff hold all the cards moving forward. They have the power to negotiate any potential departure for Ashford completely which in itself is hardly likely considering the esteem in which the highly-rated attacker is held in under Barry-Murphy, and are spared from being backed into a corner or forced to accept a lesser sum than what Ashford's ability and potential would ideally justify.

That, of course, is bad news for Sheffield United, who could have potentially poached the Cardiff starlet for a somewhat-cheap price but would now have to return to the table with a fee of great significance in order to stand any chance of taking him out of Wales.

Whether the Blades will register an interest in his services for the third time only remains to be seen, but brokering any potential move is now going to be harder than ever before and they may have to weigh up targets elsewhere as a result.