Manchester United winger Amad Diallo is set to sign on loan for Eredivisie side Feyenoord on a season-long loan according to journalist Fabrizio Romano, ending any hope of the 19-year-old joining Sheffield United.
As per the Manchester Evening News, the recently-relegated Championship side were working on an ambitious temporary deal to bring the Ivorian to Bramall Lane and would have been able to offer him the game time United were craving for one of their top prospects.
Diallo arrived at Old Trafford from Atalanta in a €40m deal just seven months ago. But after struggling to break into the Manchester United team even before Jadon Sancho's arrival this summer, with latest signing Cristiano Ronaldo also able to operate on the wing, his first-team opportunities look limited under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the short-term.
This gave Slavisa Jokanovic's side the glimmer of hope they needed to pursue this deal. However, the 19-year-old only didn't want to drop down a level according to an earlier update from Fabrizio Romano.
He is now set to ply his trade in the Dutch top division, with the loan deal likely to be announced within the next few hours.
It remains to be seen whether the Blades have any other irons in the fire with things going eerily quiet on the transfer front in South Yorkshire, apart from Willy Cabellero's potential arrival.
But yesterday, manager Jokanovic expressed his desire to see the club's board keep the promises they made to him before he joined regarding new additions. They have just over two days to complete their remaining transfer business in this window after making just one senior signing so far this summer.
The Verdict:
After missing out on Liverpool wide man Harvey Elliott earlier this month too, with the 18-year-old firmly in Jurgen Klopp's plans for the upcoming season, they have a very limited amount of time now to find a winger or two to give them something different going forward.
A goalkeeper, a central midfielder and potentially another centre-back will already be on Sheffield United's transfer wishlist over the next 48 hours, so there's a lot of work to be done in so little time.
At this stage, new wingers may be pushed down the Blades' list of priorities considering the other positions they need to address. The central midfield area is probably the most important with a considerable lack of depth there after John Lundstram's departure last month.
However, they will also want to invest in a replacement for Aaron Ramsdale, which is understandable considering the quality the 23-year-old showed in the second half of the 2020/21 season and how much of a miss he could potentially be.
Without wingers though, they could look slightly one-dimensional going forward this season. This makes the next couple of days crucial to their season, especially with the January window over four months away.