Sheffield United Brace for January Window: Key Signings Needed to Address Injuries and Attack Struggles – Analysis | OneFootball

With the January transfer window soon to be opening, there is a huge sense of relief and anticipation among everyone connected to Sheffield United Football Club because it has come at the right time, and, the Blades will get to see how ambitious the new owners truly are.

Over the hectic festive period, United’s squad has really been tested to its maximum due to various injury troubles and illnesses circulating around the team. In the last two games, Chris Wilder has had to revert to sticking under-21’s and under-18’s players on the bench so he is even able to fill it.

The most damaging of blows came when Harry Souttar was forced off in the second half against Burnley, which was later diagnosed as an Achilles injury; Souttar has now returned to Leicester City because this injury has ruled him out for the season.

The Big Australian centre-back will be a huge miss for the Blades because of his aerial ability and his calmness on the ball when playing out from the back. Currently, the Blades only have two natural centre-backs at the club, with Rhys Norrington-Davies and Alfie Gilchrist able to slot in as emergency backup. But, that is far from an ideal scenario for the club.

CARDIFF, WALES – DECEMBER 21: Chris Wilder, manager of Sheffield United celebrates in front of the fans after the Sky Bet Championship match between Cardiff City FC and Sheffield United FC at Cardiff City Stadium on December 21, 2024 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

Up Front: Are Sheffield United Doing Enough in Attack?

At the other end of the pitch, the Blades are not getting the best out of their quality attacking players, which sounds silly because of their league position, but there are only so many individual moments of brilliance that can be produced in one season, I feel, before it runs out and stops papering over some slight cracks. And in these last few games it has looked that way.

Many of the fanbase will not be interested in hearing this, because the Blades sit second, but United should find themselves quite fortunate considering they should be on 11 points less than their current tally of 49, according to Opta.

The Blades have some outstanding creative players for this level, especially Gustavo Hamer and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, and they have contributed to 16 of United’s 33 league goals. Overall, United have only conjured up the 12th-highest expected goals tally in the Championship. Meanwhile, their xG per shot is the joint third-lowest in the league. In other words, the goal output of 1.4 goals per game is not sustainable unless the team improves on their creativity.

United have to be thankful for Tyrese Campbell’s outstanding form before his injury, claiming six goals from an xG of just 2.8, meaning he is outperforming his xG by 3.2. Consequently, Campbell has an outrageous conversion rate of 32%, which is one of the highest in the league.

Football really isn’t complicated: Goals win you games of football (duh!) – in order to score you must create. The three teams that got promoted last season (Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton) all finished the campaign with an xG of 70 or better, and except from Leeds United, no other team got into that category.

Simply put, the Blades must get their act together in the final third if they want to get promoted this season. It’s much easier said than done though, especially when you have a depleted squad. Luckily, the January transfer window is on the horizon.

Who Could Sheffield United Sign in January to Improve The Team?

Tom Cannon

LUTON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 10: Tom Cannon of Stoke City moves away from Daiki Hashioka during the Sky Bet Championship match between Luton Town FC and Stoke City FC at Kenilworth Road on December 10, 2024 in Luton, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

I keep seeing many fans begging for United to sign Tom Cannon from Leicester City, currently on loan at Stoke City, but is he even available? According to Darren Witcoop, the Blades would have to strike a permanent deal with the Foxes in order to bring him to Bramall Lane because all parties are keen to keep him at Stoke City till the end of the season.

For what it’s worth, I personally have doubts as to how much Cannon would improve United anyway. He has nine goals this season, three of those were penalties. Besides, he has a poor non-penalty xG per 90 (43rd percentile vs other Championship forwards). And, it’s not as if Stoke City are considerably worse at creating chances compared to the Blades; there is less than 2xG difference separating the two sides from open play.

To add, he is not a creative outlet, which is what the Blades should be looking for in this window.

Ben Brereton-Diaz

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – MAY 04: Ben Brereton Diaz of Sheffield United runs with the ball during the Premier League match between Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest at Bramall Lane on May 04, 2024 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images) (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Ben Brereton-Diaz on the other hand is exactly the sort of player I believe would transform this attack to the next level. Currently, the Chilean forward has found himself on the fringe of the Southampton team, and he has not even been named on the bench since a six-minute cameo in the League Cup game against Liverpool in early December, despite no news of an injury.

Brereton-Diaz gave the Blades a huge lift last January, when he was signed on loan from Villarreal, scoring six goals and providing an assist in 14 Premier League games. But, it’s his underlying performance metrics that are even more intriguing.

Even though he played for the worst team in the league last term, Brereton-Diaz had a non-penalty xG of 0.43 per 90, which put him in the 70th percentile compared to other Premier League forwards. Additionally, he was a huge outlet in terms of progressing and creating, ranking in the 83rd percentile for progressive passes, 87th percentile for crosses into the box, 74th percentile for passes into the box, and 81st percentile for carries into the penalty area. If he can do that in the worst team in the Premier League, he could be borderline unstoppable in a very good Championship team.

Signing somebody like Brereton-Diaz will give the Blades a more natural inverted left-winger compared to Hamer. As a result, this will also give United a chance to play Hamer in a more central position.

Ilias Chair

LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 22: Ilias Chair of Queens Park Rangers gets past Josh Eccles of Coventry City during the Sky Bet Championship match between Queens Park Rangers FC and Coventry City FC at Loftus Road on October 22, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Ilias Chair I believe is another player that would improve the Blades tremendously from a creative aspect. While I respect they are different style of number 10’s, the current QPR player trumps Callum O’Hare in almost every creative and goalscoring metric over the last year.

Chair averages almost five shot-creating actions per 90 compared to O’Hare, who averages three, per FBref. While that may not sound like a huge difference, Chair ranks in the 83rd percentile for this metric compared to other Championship attacking midfielders and wingers, whilst O’Hare ranks well below the average in the 31st percentile.

To add, Chair is also outperforming O’Hare in terms of expected assists per 90 (quality of chance that the pass creates), ranking in the 75th percentile versus 10th percentile for the Blades player.  (See Chart Below).

The one thing I will say is, whilst Chair is the more creative and “finesse” of the two, O’Hare does have the better work rate defensively.

Conclusion

To summarise, I personally would love to see the Blades bring in Ben Brereton-Diaz in January to add some much-needed pace and a more natural option down the left, which can free up Gustavo Hamer to play more centrally in either the double pivot or the number ten role.

Ilias Chair, despite having just one assist to his name this season, is a much better creative option than Callum O’Hare. But, he isn’t as good defensively. Nevertheless, I think he would be a good signing that would be a cheap enough deal, considering his contract expires in the summer of 2025 (with QPR having the option to extend by a further year).

Lastly, a centre-back on loan is a must because I fear we would be screwed if Anel Ahmedhodzic or Jack Robinson suffered a bad injury, given the two remaining senior options would be Rhys Norrington-Davies and Alfie Gilchrist.

And the same can be said for Vinicius Souza; the Blades lack that physical destroyer type of midfielder when Souza doesn’t play. I don’t necessarily believe a back-up for Souza would have to be someone as polished as he is on the ball, just someone that can compete and do the dirty work for the likes of the better ball players: Tom Davies, Sydie Peck and Gustavo Hamer.