Sheffield United manager, Chris Wilder, has admitted that there might be times where he is powerless to stop certain players leaving the club.
Despite excelling in the Premier League this term, certain players are yet to pen new deals with the club. The likes of John Fleck, Enda Stevens, and John Lundstram are all players who Wilder wants to tie down. Indeed, we spoke about Lundstram’s potential situation, here.
However, as yet, those deals have yet to be confirmed, despite negotiations being underway. That then leads to the obvious talk around the contracts of players and if they might be tempted to leave.
And Wilder admitted he will do what’s right for the club when it comes to players who might want to make a move away from Bramall Lane.
“We can’t get away from the fact that we want to keep hold our best players. The likes of Fleck, Egan, Lundstram, etc,” Wilder said. (BBC Sheffield)
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“But we understand as well that, financially, we have a ceiling. That ceiling won’t be as big as what other clubs have in the Premier League. Our ambitious players might want to go and play for these big clubs. If players want to move, then negotiations start. We won’t hold them against their will but obviously it then becomes the best price we can get.
Wilder’s comments seemed to indicate that the Blades can’t necessarily compete with other clubs. Indeed, he confirmed that with a comment later in the interview.
“At times they might be doubling and trebling salaries and at the moment, unfortunately, we aren’t in that ball-park yet”, Wilder added.
No need to panic
It’s inevitable that the Blades will get some interest in their players. The impact they’ve made in the Premier League means that other clubs will be taking a look at the best players at the club.
Wilder is right, too. If certain clubs offer mega-money contracts then it would be hard to blame a player for going.
However, the Blades have something special going on. You’d like to assume the majority of players at the club enjoy coming to work. Hopefully, that will count for something and United can keep this group together for a while yet.