"Better players out there" - Chris Wilder's Sheffield United decision backed as 27-year-old departs | OneFootball

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 have announced that five out-of-contract players will not be offered new deals, and that they will leave the club at the end of their current deals - one of those individuals being promotion-winning full-back Max Lowe.

The Blades have had a torrid time of it since they were promoted to the top flight at the end of last season. They sold arguably their two best players in Sander Berge and Iliman Ndiaye, which sealed their fate in the minds of many people, and they have been one of the worst Premier League sides of all-time statistically.

These statements don't come with a team that narrowly fell below par. The Blades were off the pace from the start of the 2023/24 campaign, and they never managed to, or looked like they were going to, catch up with the rest.

These level performances often come with a hefty clear out, and it has already begun at Bramall Lane. They announced, last week, that Chris Basham, George Baldock, Oliver Norwood and Wes Foderingham, alongside Lowe, would be departing the side.

In a statement on the club's website, they said: "The aforementioned players will each embark on new chapters in their careers following the conclusion of this campaign, having helped the Blades to success during their spells at Bramall Lane.

"They share a total of nine promotions in their Blades careers and the club see fit to release this news ahead of the end of the campaign to enable them to receive acclaim from Unitedites for their contributions."

Max Lowe's Sheffield United exit comes as little surprise

Football League World's Blades fan pundit Owain Wyse has given his view on the full-back's time with the club, and whether it was the right choice to let him go.

Wyse believes that United made the right decision by not offering the 27-year-old a new deal.

He told FLW: "I think the decision to let Lowe go is the correct one, to be honest. I've not been his biggest fan since we signed him.

"He's been really inconsistent, he's never really stood out in any team that he's played in. The other thing with Lowe is he was so often injured this season. He missed huge chunks of it, and, because of that, he's never really had the chance to prove himself in the Premier League.

"He was in and out during his first season under Wilder, in the top flight, and then we loaned him out to Nottingham Forest. He did quite well there. He came back and did alright for us last season in the Championship, but I do think that there are better players out there.

"He's never really cemented himself in the whole time that he's been there, and I think the decision to let him go was the correct one."

Max Lowe decision shows a bit of progress for Sheffield United

In what has been a season full of negatives, the contract offer choices were something for fans to cling on to. They need to have a complete reset next season, in order to give themselves a good chance of getting back up to the top flight sooner rather than later.

Had they gone with the option of offering new deals to these players, who showed that they weren't good enough for the Premier League, it would have been a bad sign going forward.

It would have been a move that showed acceptance of what has been and what was to come. At least now, it seems like they're trying to be proactive about things.

Lowe will be a good pickup for a Championship side if he can stay fit and healthy for a whole season, but Sheffield United not only have other options at left wing-back, but they also will have ambitious transfer targets that are perhaps better than the player they just released.