While Daniel Jebbison gets the right development at Burton and scored his first goal this week, things aren’t quite going as swimmingly for Femi Seriki over in Belgium.
The full-back, who was a star of the show for United’s under-23s last term, has found himself in the midst of a woeful opening few months of the season at United’s sister club, Beerschot.
A lot was made of the decision to send Seriki to Europe. But on the face of it, it was a good use of the ‘United World’ set-up, and a chance for Seriki to get some first-team football under his belt.
Alas, things have gone miserably. In fact, they couldn’t have gone much worse for the youngster or Beerschot. The Belgian outfit sit bottom of the Jupiler League, with just a point from nine games. They’ve already changed manager, too, replacing Peter Maes with experienced South America, Javier Torrente.
For Seriki, it’s been a rude awakening. Just seven minutes – in a 5-2 loss to Charleroi – is all the Blades youngster has to show this season.
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Sheffield United to recall Femi Seriki?
It’s certainly something the club could consider doing. There is little to no point in Seriki sitting around in a losing environment and not even being given the chance to compete. Of course, losing is part of football. It’s a vital facet of the game to learn, accept, and develop from.
But as things stand, Seriki is not even getting a look in. And while his first-team chances at United are going to be limited as well, Slavisa Jokanovic might look at Jebbison’s time at Burton thus far for inspiration.
Seriki is widely-regarded as one of the very top young players emerging at Sheffield United. It would, then, be a great shame to see what should be a big season for him, wasted. If there is a recall in his contract, then it’s certainly something United’s coaching staff can look at.
The Blades face a big decision in January when it comes to Femi Seriki.