Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has been discussing the contract situation at Sheffield United and believes one key player could remain beyond the summer.
The Blades are heading into the summer knowing a massive rebuild is needed at the club.
A number of key players are out of contract and among them, some are injured. Likewise, loan players like Yasser Larouci and James McAtee will return to their parent clubs, while the likes of Vini Souza and Anel Ahmedhodzic could be sold to raise funds.
Of course, among those out of contract players are a number of popular and when fit, big players.
One of those is striker, Oli McBurnie. The big striker has once again a season of injury struggles but despite talks with the club, hasn’t agreed new terms yet.
However, speaking to the Sheffield Star about McBurnie yesterday, Chris Wilder has said he is one player he’d like to keep around, albeit there are other factors at play.
Chris Wilder discusses Oli McBurnie contract situation at Sheffield United
Speaking about McBurnie, Wilder admitted he hoped he’d not seen the last of the big striker in red and white.
“Hope so. I hope so and I think if you talk to the boy, I’d like to think that he sees his future here as well. There’s a lot of talking to be done with Oli and his agent, we have to make sure first and foremost we get him back medically healthy and fit and raring to go as well,” Wilder said.
“And he’s someone who I’d like to have around the place. One of those culture carriers, good in the changing room and a good example to the players, the younger ones. Knows what’s required, and hopefully we come to an agreement and he has a really good pre-season because pre-seasons can be massive for everybody, to set the standard from an attitude point of view and be physically really set-up for a tough season. Oli, if we can come to an agreement with him, that’d be great. But obviously there’s a lot of talking to be done before that.”
McBurnie has scored six goals for United this season, coming out as top scorer so far.
Signed from Swansea for £20m, he was instrumental in helping United out of the Championship last season when he played more than 30 games and managed to keep relatively fit.
However, there is an argument among some fans that McBurnie’s injury record is simply not good enough and with that, the club should just move on.
The post 'If you talk to the boy': Chris Wilder drops big contract hint over key Sheffield Utd player appeared first on Sheffield United News.