Sheffield United's hopes of retaining Filip Uremovic for the 2022-23 Championship season have ended, with the Croatia international signing for German Bundesliga outfit Hertha Berlin.

The 25-year-old arrived at Bramall Lane in March from Russian side Rubin Kazan, with the Blades exploiting new transfer conditions set by FIFA and UEFA which allowed players to suspend their contracts due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Uremovic, who has played six times for Croatia, headed to South Yorkshire for the final two months of the season, but he featured just three times and did not play a minute of the play-off semi-finals against Nottingham Forest.

Despite his lack of game-time though, United were still keeping tabs on his situation in regards to a potential summer return for the defender, despite knowing that they were unlikely to afford his wages if they wanted to make it a full-time move.

That has now been taken out of their hands though, as Uremovic has joined Hertha Berlin - who had to get past Hamburg in a play-off last week to remain in the top flight of German football - on a deal until the summer of 2026.

The Verdict

Even though it would have been difficult to do a deal for Uremovic thanks to his wages, he would have been an asset for the Blades next season when he had a full pre-season with the club under his belt.

That chance has now gone though, with Hertha swooping quickly to secure his services from Kazan, and it's an attractive move for the player with the Bundesliga a very competitive league.

It means that United have to go back to the drawing board in pursuit for new defenders this summer, and they definitely need a couple to bring competition to the current back-line.

If they can get international experience like Uremovic brought for a brief amount of time, then that will be even more ideal for Paul Heckingbottom.