Sheffield United transfer truth dropped by Chris Wilder on Leicester City's Harry Souttar | OneFootball

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has admitted to talks with Leicester City over the future of Australian defender Harry Souttar

Sheffield United's summer window has started relatively slowly, but Blades boss Chris Wilder is hopeful of things picking up speed sooner rather than later after dropping a recent hint over their pursuit of one player in particular.

Romelle Donovan and Matt Doherty are the only new faces through the doors at Bramall Lane so far this summer, as Sheffield United's window gets off to a slow start.

Donovan, 19, joins on loan from Premier League outfit Brentford to add another option on the wings, whilst Doherty, 34, joins on a free transfer from Wolverhampton Wanderers to provide competition to Femi Seriki at right-back.

With the likes of Jairo Riedewald, Ben Mee, Tom Davies, and Danny Ings seeing their contracts expire, as well as Andre Brooks heading to Norwich City for an initial £8 million, incomings are a necessity in South Yorkshire.

Head coach Chris Wilder will be more than aware of this, and has recently broken news on the club's pursuit of a former loan star.

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder admits to talks with Leicester City over the future of Harry Souttar

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Heading into next season, Sheffield United's squad looks depleted, especially after as many as six loanees returned to their parent clubs over the summer.

Each of Leo Hjelde, Tyler Bindon, Kalvin Phillips, Djibril Soumare, Ki-Jana Hoever, and Chiedozie Ogbene has left the club, creating huge gaps in their side, especially in defence.

In a recent interview with BBC Radio Sheffield, Wilder opened up on the club's need to improve the defence, whilst counting out both Nils Zatterstrom and Mark McGuinness out of his plans for the upcoming campaign, saying: "We can't just go in with Japh [Tanganga] and Jamal [Baptiste]. They're our two centre-halves for this season. Nils needs to go out on loan, and we’ve talked to Mark McGuinness about his future."

Both Zatterstrom and McGuinness only made the move to Bramall Lane last summer, the latter for around £4 million-£5 million from Luton Town, under the watch of Ruben Selles, but have been pushed aside and made available for transfer.

Wilder continues to emphasise the club's need for recruits in defence, and when asked about a potential move for former loanee Harry Souttar, Wilder said: "I know people talk about it and say I shouldn’t be talking about other players, but he’s one that obviously has got history with us and we have been linked with him as well. We’ve already had conversations with Leicester about taking him.

"So, the conversations will be ongoing. He’s a player that we obviously like and he had a great time on the pitch for us and off the pitch with the supporters. You know how much they rated him and they valued him.

"So it’s ongoing, but if it’s not to be, it’s not to be. And if it is, then we’ll do what we can do. I’m speaking with the board and Steve Bettis in terms of trying to make something happen and we’ll go from there."

Souttar, 27, joined Leicester City in January 2023 from Stoke City for around £15 million, but has managed just 18 appearances across all competitions for the Foxes since, and spent the first half of the 2024/25 campaign on loan with Sheffield United, where he made 22 appearances before a ruptured Achilles tendon ended his season early.

Having impressed for Australia at the recent World Cup, the six-foot-seven-inch defender has emerged on the radar of numerous teams in the EFL this summer.

Wilder has now made it no secret of the Blades' intent to make a return for the Scottish-born defender happen, with talks with League One Leicester having already begun.

However, whether the Foxes will be willing to let him go for a price Sheffield United are willing to pay remains to be seen, as those at Bramall Lane will be keeping their fingers crossed for this deal to get across the line.

Chris Wilder has made his intentions of signing Leicester City's Harry Souttar clear

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With Wilder having made his intentions of re-signing Souttar this summer abundantly clear, a deal appears to be far from straightforward.

Leicester will be looking to recoup as much of the £15 million they paid for the Aussie three-and-a-half years ago in the event of a sale, and would likely prefer that instance over a loan.

The Blades almost certainly cannot stump up that amount of money, especially with the loss of parachute payments and the need to reinforce multiple areas of the pitch.