The idea of the United World programme and subsequent links with the likes of Beerschot in Belgium has always divided the Blades fans.
Sheffield United supporters see their club as the only thing that matters and as of yet, there’s yet to be any real benefit seen on the pitch from the United World links. Indeed, if anything, Beerschot seems to be more in the news when it comes to finances than the Blades, with a new training ground revealed not so long ago.
Likewise, a spell at Beerschot for Ismaila Coulibaly hasn’t really yielded the results United might have wanted thus far.
And in yet another update that will leave United fans scratched their heads, Yorkshire Live has relayed reports from Belgium that Beerschot have been given a £5m cash injection to ease their transfer worries. The Belgian’s had been under an embargo.
While it’s not unusual for club owners to inject money, this will leave some questions. Frankly, United boss Paul Heckingbottom has spoken of the lack of budget for January when it comes to new signings. Seeing a £5m cash boost from Prince Abdullah and his investment partners to Beerschot, then, will seem a bit fishy.
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At a time when the Blades are pushing for promotion, that sort of money could help United over the line.
Sheff U News View: United World model causes more aggro than benefit
It remains to be seen if the potential new owners of United will buy just the Blades or buy all of United World. From there, it would be down to those new owners to decide what to do in the future.
However, for now, it seems the Blades aren’t getting much from this whole plan. On paper, it seems a wise move and clubs like Man City do it. But so far, it’s just not producing for the Blades.
Similarly, seeing £5m being lumped into the club when Heckingbottom has no money for transfers, seems a bit of a head scratcher as well. After all, it is United winning promotion to the PL that is going to benefit United World.
Our opinion? Well, we’d like to see the whole thing moved away from. Even the idea of the new kit deal with Errea was sold as a benefit of being in United World. But those kits – although nice enough to look at – have been a disaster.
The sooner it’s back to just being Sheffield United, the better.
