Sheffield United: Chris Wilder amongst those credited for "absolutely incredible" transfer evolution | OneFootball

FLW's Sheffield United fan pundit has had his say on the recruitment team at Bramall Lane.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Sheffield United currently find themselves inside the automatic promotion places at the top of the Championship table, and their summer recruitment is a key reason as to why they have been so successful during the 2024/25 campaign so far.

The Blades were relegated back to the second tier after finishing bottom of the Premier League last season, having accumulated just 16 points from 38 league games, so Chris Wilder and his staff had a big job on their hands to build a squad capable of competing for an immediate return to the top flight over the summer.

Sheffield United also started the season on -2 points, after the EFL ruled that they had broken rules by defaulting on payments to other clubs during their 2022/23 promotion season, which is the only reason why they are not level on points with the league-leaders, Leeds United, ahead of their game in hand away at Millwall tonight.

The Blades will go top of the Championship if they pick up all three points at The Den later, and the fact they are in a position to do that is largely down to their recruitment during the summer transfer window.

Sheffield United had an excellent summer transfer window

We asked our Sheffield United fan pundit, Jimmy, who has a YouTube channel (Blades Ramble) where he covers the Blades in more detail, whether he rates the recruitment team at the club, or if he feels as though there is room for improvement.

"I think the recruitment this summer speaks for itself," said Jimmy.

"We have been poor at recruiting in the past. Some of the players we brought in for our Premier League season just did not work.

"We have been very fortunate to make our money back on most of those players that were surplus to requirements.

"This season, the rebuild, if you like, under Chris Wilder and his new recruitment team, has been absolutely incredible.

"I think we have now got a better side in the Championship than we had in the Premier League, which says it all really.

"In terms of where we could get better, I think we need to have a stronger presence in the foreign market.

"We have brought in some brilliant domestic deals, such as Michael Cooper and Harrison Burrows, but there are not many about with such a huge upside as those two players.

"That is the aim - to find those rough diamonds from wherever they may be."

Chris Wilder will be pleased with the impact of his new signings

Wilder will be delighted with the impact that a number of his new signings have had so far at Bramall Lane.

Tyrese Campbell, who joined the club on a free transfer following his departure from Stoke City, and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, who is on loan from Premier League side Crystal Palace, have both proven to be excellent additions in attack for the Blades.

At the other end of the pitch, Cooper and Burrows have both shown that it was shrewd business to sign them from Plymouth Argyle and Peterborough United respectively, while Harry Souttar's loan move from Leicester City has also been a success so far.

Sheffield United also brought in the likes of Kieffer Moore, Callum O'Hare and Alfie Gilchrist, who is on loan from Chelsea, with those players having the ability to build on the starts they have made at the club and play a key role during the remainder of the season.