Sheffield United and Neil Warnock had transfer disaster with £1.75m club-record deal: View | OneFootball

Sheffield United needed to refresh their squad following a disappointing 2004/05 campaign.

They may have been pushing for a place at the top end of the division, but they would have been extremely disappointed to have missed out on a play-off place in the end, with the Blades having some excellent players including Paddy Kenny, Chris Morgan and Phil Jagielka.

Andy Gray, who was a prolific scorer during that season, was also a valuable player but was sold in the summer of 2005 to then-Premier League outfit Sunderland.

Thankfully for the Blades, Neil Warnock already acted to strengthen his forward department before his sale, turning Danny Webber's loan deal into a permanent agreement after agreeing a deal with Watford.

The experienced Neil Shipperley also came in before Gray left, giving United an injection of firepower and leaving them in a good position to compete for promotion during the 2005/06 season.

Sheffield United's successful 2005/06 campaign and Ade Akinbiyi's arrival

Winning 11 of their opening 12 league games of the campaign, they lost away at Reading after that in controversial circumstances, with Keith Gillespie being taken down by James Harper in the box.

A penalty wasn't given for that - and the Royals, who would go on to win the title and break the Championship points record, went on to win the game.

That could have helped to derail their season, but United responded well and were consistent throughout much of the season, only having a poor patch between February and March.

This was largely thanks to Steve Kabba, Paul Ifill, Webber and Shipperley, all of whom got themselves on the scoresheet on multiple occasions during the first half of the campaign.

But Warnock seemingly wanted some more firepower in January 2006 - and agreed a £1.75m deal with league rivals Burnley to secure the signing of Ade Akinbiyi.

Akinbiyi nearly came to blows with Warnock during the previous campaign following a strong challenge by the striker on a United player - but the Blades' boss was desperate to get a deal over the line and succeeded.

And in fairness to the forward, he did make an impact during the second half of the 2005/06 season, scoring four goals in 15 league appearances for the Blades, including on his debut against Derby County and against arch-rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

Ade Akinbiyi's spell at Sheffield United went downhill

It was a carnival atmosphere at Bramall Lane during the final game of the 2005/06 season against Crystal Palace, having already secured promotion.

Craig Short and Brian Deane received a great reception as they made their final appearances before retiring - and Akinbiyi also featured that day - coming on for Shipperley.

After that day, it looked as though Akinbiyi was set for a bright future at Bramall Lane.

But he made just five further appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring just once with that goal coming in the EFL Cup.

Three of those appearances came in the league, with the striker featuring in three of the club's opening five top-flight games at the start of the 2006/07 campaign.

And he spent the majority of the first half of that season out of the matchday squad completely, with a reported bust-up with teammate Claude Davis unlikely to have helped him to prolong his stay in South Yorkshire.

Moving back down to the second tier to his former club Burnley in January 2007 for a total of £750,000, the Blades made a significant loss on the striker.

Despite looking like a promising signing, things clearly didn't work out for Akinbiyi at Bramall Lane.

To make a £1m loss on a player just one year after signing him was a major blow - and to rub salt into the wound for United - they were relegated at the end of the 2006/07 season on the final day.