Sheffield United signed Reda Khadra to a deal for the 2022/23 campaign from Brighton and boss Paul Heckingbottom says the player is someone he was interested in last season too, according to The Star.

Reda Khadra played for Blackburn on another loan deal during the last campaign and looked solid despite it being his first season in the Championship. With the player returning to Brighton - and with no first-team spot yet available - the Seagulls decided to let Khadra seal a loan transfer to a second tier team again.

This time, the player will be on loan with the Blades - and Paul Heckingbottom is happy to have got his attacker, having admitted he wanted to sign Khadra last season.

Ahead of the Championship season this weekend, the club will want to ensure they are prepared for a promotion push. Until the appointment of Heckingbottom as boss, they were looking like a midtable team. Eventually, the team ended up in the play-off spots and the club were close to a place back in the Premier League.

Instead though, the club are having to prepare for at least another season in the second tier - and now Heckingbottom is strengthening the squad to ensure that they can seal that top flight spot come the end of this 2022/23 season.

One of the latest signings is Khadra and it seems that the Sheffield United boss has wanted to sign the player for the Blades since last season.

Speaking to The Star about the signing of the Brighton player, he said: "Reda was someone that we knew. We had discussions about him and I remember speaking to the board about those. Those obviously picked up over the summer and we’ve been lucky enough to be able to bring him in.”

The Verdict

Paul Heckingbottom signing Reda Khadra for Sheffield United is a solid piece of business and he should be a decent goalscorer for the club this season.

He played a total of 27 league games for Blackburn last time around, with four goals and two assists. Whilst that record isn't the best with the player not having a lot of output in front of goal, he was often played as a winger and thrived when allowed to play more centrally.

Now, with the Blades looking for more forward options, he could find that he gets onto the field a lot more at Bramall Lane and that the player also gets played more centrally as a striker. It means that his goal tally should go up and so too should his assist tally in the Championship.

Even with the player having only joined for a campaign, it is a decent piece of business and Heckingbottom will be happy to land Khadra for the club for the new Championship season.