Paul Heckingbottom sends clear message after being asked how important Sheffield United takeover is | OneFootball

Sheffield United manager Paul Heckingbottom has reiterated that he wants to divert his focus to on-field matters only after being asked about the club’s potential future takeover, speaking to the Daily Mail.

The Blades are reportedly in the process of being bought by Nigerian businessman Dozy Mmobuosi, who has already thought to have injected an eight-figure cash boost into Heckingbottom’s side.

However, there are concerns about Mmobuosi with his company, named ‘Tingo’, believed to have suffered a stock market value fall of around 94% within the space of a year.

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The Athletic journalist Joey D’Urso’s revelation has been a cause for further concern, with Mmobuosi’s airline not certain to have ever flown a plane.

This is a concern with the EFL still needing to give the businessman the green light before he can take control of the club from Prince Abdullah – and there had even been concerns about the possibility of administration with the club defaulting on transfer payments.

The potential future owner had reportedly instructed the Blades to keep hold of Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge, two players who could have generated some cash for United in their quest to exit their transfer embargo.

With this takeover not certain to go through, there may be worries about what may happen if this deal fails to materialise but manager Heckingbottom was keen to focus on what’s happening on the pitch.

He said: “I don’t know. You will have to ask them who know about it.

“I’m not trying to be rude to anyone but get someone else in front of you to answer those questions.

“From me, now on, it’s going to be about the football and the players – and that’s the way it should be.”

You have to feel for Heckingbottom because he’s done an excellent job on the field but disruption off it could potentially derail the Blades’ promotion push.

They are still favourites to secure second spot over Middlesbrough but off-field certainty needs to come sooner rather than later because that noise won’t help the players in their quest to get over the line.

Steve Gibson, meanwhile, seems to be running a steady ship at Boro and his presence as a supporter of Michael Carrick could be crucial for them in their quest to knock the Blades off second place.

And at this point, the Teesside outfit are probably just pursuing the Blades rather than Burnley because the latter look unstoppable at this rate and it would now be a major surprise if they didn’t win the league title.

As long as they can keep the likes of Ndiaye and Berge fit and stay away from administration though, you feel United still have a great chance of being promoted automatically because Heckingbottom has dealt with off-field matters well so far.