This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict’ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Sheffield United striker Oli McBurnie has emerged as a surprise transfer target for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final days of the transfer window, according to The Sun on Sunday (August 29 print edition).

The 25-year-old scored just once for the Blades in the Premier League last season and has started just two of the club's five Championship matches so far this season as he battles with a plethora of other strikers for minutes at Bramall Lane.

Wolves were said to be interested in the Scotland international during Nuno's managerial reign at Molineux earlier this year, but their interest has now reportedly been re-ignited under Bruno Lage.

Would McBurnie be a good addition though? We asked the FLW team for their thoughts.

George Harbey

I’d be very surprised if this happened to be honest.

McBurnie hasn’t really lived up to the price tag United paid for him in the summer of 2019, scoring only six goals in his first season in the Premier League.

He only found the net once in the top-flight last season, too, and whilst he is a good player at Championship level, a move to Wolves would be too much for him in my opinion.

Raul Jimenez and Fabio Silva are two good attacking options, but I’m not sure a loan addition like McBurnie would get the better out of them and push them.

It wouldn’t make sense.

 

 

 

 

Adam Jones

This one could go either way - it could be a masterstroke or a complete disaster.

After scoring 22 goals in 42 appearances for Swansea City during the 2018/19 campaign, it shows he can perform when he has the confidence to do so.

However, his move to Sheffield United has been an unsuccessful one thus far despite finishing in the top half of the Premier League table during his maiden season at Bramall Lane.

The good thing for Wolverhampton Wanderers is the fact he has two season's worth of top-flight football under his belt. But has he done enough to show he deserves a return to the top division?

Not particularly, but a new start for the Scottish international, albeit a temporary one, could be exactly what he needs to kickstart his career.

It makes you wonder whether he would benefit more from his time at Molineux than the other way round, but Wolves should definitely be looking at alternative targets. A loan move would be less risky at this stage though, so it wouldn't be a disaster for them if it went through.

They do need an increased amount of attacking firepower after a poor start to the league campaign going forward.

Jordan Rushworth

This could be a bit of a gamble really from Wolves here because Ollie McBurnie has not enjoyed the best period over the last 12 months or so with Sheffield United.

The forward was a success in the Premier League in his first season with the Blades with him managing to register a decent return of six goals in 36 appearances in the 2019/20 campaign.

It is likely that the forward would be arriving as a back-up option to Raul Jimenez and Wolves do ideally need to add at least one other striker to their squad before the window closes.

McBurnie coming off the bench in the last 20 minutes or so would provide Wolves with a different sort of threat for their opponents to worry about.

Having said that, McBurnie is not a signing that is going to excite supporters you would not expect. The striker would therefore have plenty to prove to their supporters.

Wolves would be best to see if there is any other potential options they can go for instead, but if not then McBurnie might be a decent enough squad player for them this season.