Sheffield United manager Paul Heckingbottom has told his side's board of directors that he wants Brighton and Hove Albion attacker Reda Khadra at the club before their clash against Watford at the start of next month, according to The Star.

The Blades have already moved to recruit Tommy Doyle, Anel Ahmedhodzic and Ciaran Clark in recent weeks, an improvement on last year with all of their arrivals not coming in until August during the previous summer window.

However, they are struggling to get a deal over the line for Brighton's Khadra, who spent last season on loan at Blackburn Rovers and shone during his time at Ewood Park with five goals and four assists in 28 appearances.

 

 

But with Rovers seemingly not reviving their interest in the 21-year-old, that allowed United and league rivals Sunderland to go head-to-head for the former Borussia Dortmund man.

It previously looked as though Heckingbottom's side had won the race for his signature - but an impasse remains with Brighton looking to offload him permanently but the second-tier side only wanting him to join on a loan deal at this stage.

That remains a sticking point in negotiations and the Blades have been unable to edge any closer to an agreement recently, according to their boss.

 

The Verdict:

Considering they have already spent a fee on Ahmedhodzic, you can understand why the Blades want to stick to cheap agreements from now until the end of the transfer window.

However, they should still have funds to spend after Aaron Ramsdale's sale to Arsenal last summer and could potentially have a decent amount to spend if they cash in on another key player in Sander Berge.

Many of the second-tier side's supporters will want to keep hold of him considering his quality and the possibility of the Norwegian filling Morgan Gibbs-White's shoes well during the 2022/23 campaign, but they could potentially generate a sizeable eight-figure fee for his services.

Football League World understands that interest in his services dried up earlier this summer so it remains to be seen if they receive a bid for him - but it's certainly something worth considering if they make £15m or more on him.

That sort of money could help to fund permanent deals for the likes of Khadra and others - and that can only be a good thing for the Blades in their quest to build for the long term.