Alternative summer Sheffield United targets to new Watford signing were identified with new plan expected | OneFootball

Sheffield United had identified several alternative targets to new Watford addition Ismael Kone in the summer after putting contingency plans in place to deal with the potential departure of Sander Berge, according to The Star.

With Berge being linked with moves to Club Brugge and Chelsea during the previous transfer window, many United supporters were bracing themselves for his sale following their failure to get back to the Premier League at the first time of asking last season.

And the club were also putting things in place to deal with the Norway international’s possible departure, with the release clause in his contract meaning the Blades didn’t have full control over whether he would stay or go.

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Although it was always unlikely that a club was going to fork out the £35m needed to bypass negotiations with officials at Bramall Lane, a list of targets to replace him were believed to have been created despite the fact Kone was the only direct replacement publicly linked.

With the Canada international sealing a move to league rivals Watford this week though, they will need to pursue others instead and a new plan is expected to be put in place by United following this transfer.

This plan could potentially involve the Blades taking a closer look at some of the other players they identified as suitable Berge replacements in the summer.

The Verdict:

At this point, the Blades may be willing to cash in on him for lower than the amount it took to bring him to Bramall Lane because they won’t want to see him leave for nothing.

Spending £22m on him back in January 2020, it would be a massive loss for United if they made nothing on him because he has the potential to be even more valuable in the future.

In fairness, there’s probably a better chance of him signing a new contract at the end of the campaign if the Blades win promotion but even then, there are no guarantees he will put pen to paper and with his contract expiring in 2024, they probably won’t be able to generate a huge fee for him in the summer.

It’s unclear at this stage whether they have the option to extend his deal by a further year – but if they do – it’s probably worth holding onto him because he could be the difference between promotion and remaining in this division.

Regardless of whether they do sell him or not though, it’s good that they are set to make a new contingency plan.