Sheffield United Must Get Active in Transfer Window And Add Depth This Summer | OneFootball

We are several weeks into the summer transfer window now and Sheffield United have only made a couple of signings for the first-team.

Meanwhile, rivals across the Championship are already moving decisively to reshape their squads, particularly Birmingham City, who have just announced three top quality signings for the second tier in the form of: Demarai Gray, Bright Osayi-Samuel and former Blades loanee Tommy Doyle.

Blades Lost Championship Play-off Final Due to Poor Attacking Depth

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – MARCH 08: Tyrese Campbell of Sheffield United celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with teammates during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield United FC and Preston North End FC at Bramall Lane on March 08, 2025 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Ben Roberts Photo/Getty Images)

Of course, one could argue Sheffield United don’t necessarily need a ton of incomings as the bulk of their rebuild was successful this time last year. However, the Blades fell short of the automatic promotion places last term (finishing third), and they would go on to lose in injury time against Sunderland in the Championship play-off final.

A large part of this late collapse after leading for the majority of the game was due to the lack of depth in attacking areas. We saw the whole momentum of the game change when Gustavo Hamer was forced off with injury, and then his replacement Ben Brereton Diaz would also get injured. Between these moments, Tyrese Campbell, who scored the opening goal in the final, began to tire and was also replaced.

Sheffield United Weakening Squad Rather Than Strengthening It

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 10: Vinicius Souza and Gustavo Hamer of Sheffield United celebrate after the team’s victory in the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield United FC and Sheffield Wednesday FC at Bramall Lane on November 10, 2024 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Ed Sykes/Getty Images)

The United owners, COH Sports, sacked Chris Wilder in June despite just falling short at the last hurdle, a decision that has been frowned upon by most supporters. Especially after replacing the Blades legend with an inexperienced manager at Championship level in Ruben Selles.

In reality, it really shouldn’t matter who is taking charge of Sheffield United in the 2025/26 season; the weaknesses of the squad are there to see and thus far have not been addressed. United can keep their squad together and then they just need quality depth on either wing, as well as centre-back and right-back options.

However, the Blades seem to be going in the opposite direction as one of their key performers from last campaign, Vinicius Souza has left Sheffield United for VfL Wolfsburg for a reported fee of around €15 million. This would significantly weaken Selles’ midfield as there is no other defensive midfielder in United’s squad as of writing.

With this potential sale, that would leave just Tom Davies, Oliver Arblaster, Sydie Peck and Jamie Shackleton as the club’s central midfielders in the first-team. Davies is Premier League quality but just never fit. Arblaster and Peck are two excellent young players. And as for Shackleton, he was riddled with injuries last season. Therefore, a couple of midfielders would likely be needed this summer after the sale of Souza.

The Blades certainly have their work cut out this summer to reinforce their squad ready for a second attempt at getting back to the Premier League. For those football fans that are looking to place some bets on the Championship promotion race, the top six and even the relegation battle, Sportsbet offers plenty of in-depth Championship markets.