With the new Championship season just days away, things have yet to really get going in the summer transfer window for Sheffield United.

Despite their relegation at the end of last season, and the fact they will surely be targeting a return to the Premier League in the coming campaign, the Blades have so far yet to make a single senior signing in the transfer market.

However, it does seem as though the Yorkshire club, who are now under the management of Slavisa Jokanovic following his appointment earlier this summer, are working to change that.

It has recently been reported that one of those Sheffield United are keen on bringing to Bramall Lane this summer is Harvey Elliott, with the Blades thought to be targeting a loan move for the 18-year-old Liverpool winger.

However, The Athletic have suggested that Liverpool will look to keep Elliott at Anfield for the coming campaign, rather than allow him to leave the club on a temporary basis.

But while that main come as a source of disappointment for those at the Yorkshire club, it should be not be much of a surprise for them.

Last season, Elliott enjoyed a hugely impressive campaign on loan in the Championship with Blackburn Rovers, scoring seven goals and providing 11 assists in 41 league appearances for Tony Mowbray's side, despite their ultimately underwhelming 15th place finish in the second-tier standings.

That though, is unlikely to have helped Sheffield United's case with regards to their attempts to secure the services of the teenager for the coming campaign.

Elliott's performances last season showed that even at such an early age of his career, he is already more than capable of not only holding his own in the Championship, but also being a major threat in that division.

As a result, it is hard to see another year in the second-tier really being beneficial for Elliott.

He, and Liverpool already know what he can do in the Championship, so it doesn't make sense to leave the teenager playing in the second-tier for another year, when he could be testing, and likely improving himself, with game time in the Premier League, either at Anfield or with a loan spell to another top-flight club.

Indeed, with Mo Salah and Sadio Mane both likely to be representing Egypt and Senegal respectively at The Africa Cup of Nations midway through the season, Elliott is one attacker who Liverpool themselves may well need to turn to at some point during the campaign.

That is an opportunity that Elliott himself will no doubt relish, with the winger himself seemingly keen to make an impact on Merseyside sooner rather than later, meaning he too may be reluctant to move elsewhere for the coming campaign, even if it is only on a temporary basis.

It seems therefore, that circumstances that have been clear for some time now as we approach the new season, mean that it is hard to imagine Elliott making a return to the Championship for the coming campaign.

With that in mind, those of a Sheffield United persuasion, may have to hope that the club have identified potential targets to lined up and ready to move for, with the start of their push for a swift return to the Premier League now imminent.