Danny Ings set to join Sheffield United - It could be bad news for one Blades player though | OneFootball

The arrival of Danny Ings at Sheffield United is exciting news for Blades fans, but for one player it might mean the end of their time with the club.

The imminent arrival of England star Danny Ings at Sheffield United is exciting news for Blades fans, but for one player it might mean the end of their time at Bramall Lane - at least for the short-term anyway.

With three straight league defeats and an early elimination from the EFL Cup, it has been a disastrous start to the season for Sheffield United. The club were expecting to be chasing for a return to the Premier League this season, but as the end of the first month of the season comes into view, they're rooted to the bottom of the Championship table.

But it can hardly be said that the Blades have been inert in the face of this escalating crisis. Ben Godfrey has been brought in from Atalanta, while they are also reported to be close to securing the signing of Japhet Tanganga from Millwall.

And there's further excitement in the air around the club with the news that England international Danny Ings is set to sign for the club following his release by West Ham United at the end of last season.

The arrival of Danny Ings at Bramall Lane could be bad news for Louie Marsh

But while the arrival of Ings at Bramall Lane is exciting news for Sheffield United fans, there may be one young player for whom this particular signing means quite bad news.

Forward Louie Marsh has been at Sheffield United since he was six years old, having come up through their youth system, but he's been unable to force his way through into the first-team on a regular basis, and Ings' arrival will only push him further down the pecking order at Bramall Lane in the centre-forward spot.

Ings is a highly experienced player, whose talent can be seen in the fact that three well-established Premier League clubs have spent a cumulative £60 million on him in the last six years on transfer fees alone.

This is a player with over 200 Premier League appearances and three England caps under his belt, and a heatmap comparison for Ings and Marsh show that the two play in a very similar position.

With Tyrese Campbell and Tom Cannon already on the books too, as well as youngster Ryan Oné getting minutes, Marsh's time at Bramall Lane for the 2025-26 season could already be up.

The imminent arrival of Ings at Sheffield United leaves Marsh with a difficult decision to make.

He's been with the club for 15 years, and he's a local lad. His entire career, from the age of six, will have been focused on breaking into the Blades' first-team. But now, at 21-years-old, the arrival of a former Premier League star only seems likely to push him further down Ruben Selles' priority list for this season.

Marsh has been an unused substitute for Sheffield United in the league so far this season, though he did play the full 90 minutes of their 2-1 EFL Cup defeat to Birmingham (in an attacking midfield role), and this flurry of late transfer window activity will only further strengthen the feeling that his future might be best served away from Bramall Lane.

He's had two spells out on loan before. He was sent to Doncaster Rovers for the 2023-24 season, but could only manage six league appearances for them before injury curtailed his time with the club, and had a spell with Fleetwood Town throughout the second half of last season which yielded 16 appearances and two goals, after having signed a new contract with the Blades.

But the arrival of Ings at Bramall Lane throws a spanner into the works of his career development with Sheffield United.

Ings will likely be on decent money, and Sheffield United wouldn't be paying big money for a player who isn't going to make considerable appearances.

Consequently, this means that Marsh might be better off with a third spell out on loan, where he can prove himself to Ruben Selles from a distance, rather than through fleeting appearances in cup games or, at best, from the bench.

Now 21 years of age, the forward needs to start proving himself on a more consistent basis. He's only made 30 appearances since starting his senior career in 2022, and while younger players often play fewer games as they continue to learn their trade, Marsh now needs to be playing regular football rather than warming the bench for them every week.

There's a lot of talent in Marsh. He shone in the Professional Development League and sat on the bench for Sheffield United in the Premier League a couple of times at the start of 2023-24, before being shipped off to Doncaster.

But now he's out of his teens, Marsh needs to prove that he can fulfil his early promise on a week-in-week-out basis, and the arrival of Ings only makes that less likely to happen.

It might not even be what the player wants, but another period away from the club could be exactly what he needs.