Exclusive: Chris Wilder set to ditch 3 Sheffield United players with brutal January decision | OneFootball

Chris Wilder is set to sanction three exits from Sheffield United in the January transfer window, Football League World understands

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder is preparing to make a series of brutal transfer decisions at Bramall Lane ahead of the January window as three players appear poised for premature exits from the Steel City outfit, Football League World has been exclusively informed.

The Yorkshireman made a swift return to United in September, when he was brought back just months on from his sacking to replace his replacement in Ruben Selles. He was contentiously relieved of his duties after the Blades lost out to Sunderland in last season's Championship play-off final, but after Selles lost each of his six matches in charge, Wilder was returned to his boyhood club in a bid to overturn a dismal start to the 2025/26 campaign.

Upon returning to S2, Wilder almost instantly delivered a rather frank admission of the size of the squad in which he had re-inherited. With a clean bill of health, United's full squad will exceed the 30 mark and Wilder admitted that, in the time leading up to the January window, there will be an "assessment of everybody."

Since then, Wilder has continued to run his rule over the side, which remains positioned inside the Championship relegation zone, having picked up three victories from the 58-year-old's first six games back in the dugout before suffering successive defeats to Preston North End, Derby County and league leaders Coventry City.

And, with the window now beginning to edge closer, Wilder appears to have made a decision on the futures of at least three players in the red-and-white quarters of the Steel City.

Chris Wilder plotting Louie Barry, Tyler Bindon and Ben Godfrey loan exits at Sheffield United

Football League World can exclusively reveal that Wilder intends on cancelling a series of loan deals which were sanctioned by his predecessor during the summer.

It's understood that the Sheffield United boss plans to terminate the loans of Tyler Bindon, Louie Barry and Ben Godfrey in order to free up space in what is widely deemed a bloated squad and even make way for potential new arrivals, which could be needed if the Blades are to push themselves away from the wrong end of the table in the second-half of the season.

20-year-old defender Bindon, brought in from Nottingham Forest, is yet to feature under Wilder. Selles took him to Bramall Lane after managing the 20-cap New Zealand international at Reading, though he has not played a single minute of first-team football since August.

Barry, meanwhile, also arrived in Yorkshire with much anticipation. Ex-boss Selles signed Barry for the second time this year, having loaned the speedy winger to Hull City in January, where his stint following a 15-goal haul in the first-half of the previous campaign with League One Stockport County would be curtailed by injury.

However, Barry has started on just one occasion since Selles' exit and has failed to match the hype as he remains in search of a goal involvement after nine appearances — and he's been absent from United's last two matchday squads. Instead, Barry and Godfrey were both included in United's under-21 side for a defeat to Wigan Athletic this week.

And Godfrey, who was loaned in from Serie A side Atalanta after spending the second-half of last season on loan with Ipswich Town in the Premier League, was a regular fixture under Selles but has not played for United or even made a matchday squad since Wilder's first game back in charge - a 1-0 defeat at home to Charlton Athletic on September 20.

Wilder has remained tight-lipped on the ex-Everton and Norwich City defender ever since.

He has refrained from detailing the reasons behind his continued absence, and a termination of his loan deal alongside Barry and Bindon hardly represents a surprising development considering how the moves have played out.

Sheffield United must be frustrated by Louie Barry, Tyler Bindon and Ben Godfrey developments

It's a frustrating scenario for Sheffield United, who have been left underwhelmed by the lack of impact from three hotly-anticipated loan deals brokered back in the summer.

All three arrived with promising reputations, and the arrival of Barry in particular appeared to represent a shrewd addition to a squad which was expected to contest for promotion once more, but it hasn't panned out that way and the trio are set to depart upon the turn of the year.

Although Barry, Bindon and Godfrey have not featured regularly, leading some to wonder whether they should be handed more opportunities to show their worth, the bottom line is that Wilder will see them in action in training each day and, quite clearly, they're not doing enough to force their way into his plans - and the fact that's at a point where United are continuing to struggle rather miserably in the lower reaches of the division is damning.

It will be interesting to see whether any situations change before January, with a hectic winter fixture schedule sure to test the strength and depth of Wilder's squad, and one would like to imagine that Barry could still potentially turn his Blades career around at least, though that hardly feels a likely prospect at this moment in time.