Prince Abdullah takes action in bid to increase Sheffield United's summer transfer budget | OneFootball

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Football League World

·28 May 2023

Prince Abdullah takes action in bid to increase Sheffield United's summer transfer budget

Article image:Prince Abdullah takes action in bid to increase Sheffield United's summer transfer budget

Sheffield United owner Prince Abdullah is attempting to get "allies" in the Middle East to provide the Blades with financial support as he looks to increase the club's transfer budget, according to Alan Nixon.

The promoted outfit will be desperate to spend a decent amount of money during the upcoming window to give themselves the best chance of remaining afloat in the Premier League for more than one season.


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But at this stage, it doesn't look as though big backing will be coming in the short term with some of the money they gained from winning promotion being utilised to pay creditors.

It previously looked as though Nigerian businessman Dozy Mmobuosi was going to complete a takeover deal having had months to do so, but he is yet to get the green light to take control of the Blades and that may have negatively impacted their preparations for the summer window.

There's also interest from the United States but with a deal yet to be struck, it seems as though Prince Abdullah will be at the helm for the foreseeable future despite previously signalling his intention to sell the top-flight team to someone else.

Nixon believes United's current budget stands at around £20m, plus the money that will be flooding in during their time in the top flight.

However, that isn't a huge amount of money for manager Paul Heckingbottom who will need to make quite a few signings this summer if some of his out-of-contract players leave this summer.

Not only do they need to improve their depth, but they also need to prioritise quality to give them the best chance of staying in the top tier.

Although there have been off-field issues in recent times, Prince Abdullah is probably a stable enough figure to have at the top of the club but he will probably need some backing to make United competitive.

A change of ownership always presents risks because the people coming in as majority shareholders are often unknown and unproven as football owners, so keeping Prince Abdullah in place isn't the worst outcome.

Some investors will need to come in though because they may not be competitive in the top flight if they stick to their current budget, even if they utilise the loan market.

Plenty of other teams will be looking to use the free agent and loan markets quite heavily and with this, United may miss out on some of their targets.

If they have extra cash at their disposal though, they can pay some decent fees for players. Depth and quality are both needed - and £20m just doesn't cut the mustard.

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