Sheffield United have offered Ryan Mullen a trial with the club after the keeper was released by Celtic.

The Scottish champions confirmed that the 21-year-old would be departing when his deal expires this summer after they decided not to take up the option to extend his contract.

Therefore, Mullen will be looking to earn a move elsewhere ahead of next season and the Scottish Daily Express has revealed that the Blades have looked to move quickly to see off any rivals for the keeper.

They say that contact has already been made with Mullen to give him the chance to train with the Yorkshire side when they return for pre-season with a view to making him part of the U23 side initially.

Of course, Mullen may get permanent offers which could change the situation for the youngster, who has had loan spells with Queen’s Park and Cove Rangers in recent seasons to give him the chance to feature in a first-team environment.

The Scottish champions have the highly-rated Tobi Oluwayemi ahead of Mullen in the pecking order behind the senior keepers which has blocked his path to the first-team.

The verdict

This seems like a very low-risk move by Sheffield United as they would get the chance to see Mullen close up and make a more informed decision on whether he will be good enough in the future.

The fact he has come through at a club like Celtic shows he has a decent pedigree and given his age, there is still plenty of time to improve.

So, it will be interesting to see how this goes and whether any permanent offers come the way of Mullen which would obviously change things.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.