Sheffield United have a lot on the line in the coming weeks, as they chase a Premier League return at the first time of asking. 

Paul Heckingbottom has guided the Blades back on track since taking charge in November and, following Saturday's goalless draw with AFC Bournemouth, a place in the play-offs is very achievable.

That push for a place in the top-six will take ultimate priority at Bramall Lane right now, but once the promotion race has been settled, there's a summer of big decisions to make for Heckingbottom and the powers that be in South Yorkshire.

Centre of that will be transfer plans, which leads to us prematurely identifying a couple of things that will have to be decided:

A extension for Adam Davies? 

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Sheffield United swooped to sign Adam Davies from Stoke City in the January transfer window, as Heckingbottom reshuffled his goalkeeping department to support Wes Foderingham.

That agreement with Davies was only short-term, with the option to extend into 2022/23.

Such has been Foderingham's fitness and form, there's been no appearance to date for Davies, despite his arrival in January.

So, moving into the summer, Heckingbottom needs to make a decision on whether to extend that deal for the 29-year-old by another 12 months.

Given we have no performance to judge yet, it's a decision that Sheffield United will have to make on what they've seen behind the scenes.

 

 

Filip Uremovic pursuit? 

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Uremovic has been brought to Sheffield on a short-term deal from Rubin Kazan, with Sheffield United bringing in the Croatian international after his deal in Russia was suspended owing to the country's invasion of Ukraine.

In two appearances, Uremovic has impressed on the right-side of Heckingbottom's three-man defence, deputising for the injured Chris Basham.

As per whoscored.com's rating system, the 25-year-old has performed at 7.07/10 on average since arriving at Bramall Lane, boosted by a 7.47 rating in Saturday's goalless draw with AFC Bournemouth.

Quite what the future holds for Uremovic and a host of Russian-based players right now remains to be seen, but there's every chance that if he keeps impressing at Sheffield United, they might face a decision on whether to pursue a more permanent agreement in 2022/23.