Sheffield United simply have to secure the future of loyal Bramall Lane ace: Opinion | OneFootball

Sheffield United have made few better signings in the last decade than John Egan, who made his 200th Blades appearance during the week in a defeat to Middlesbrough.

Egan cost Sheffield United a then-club-record £4m in 2018, the club signing the ROI international from Brentford prior to their promotion-winning campaign under Chris Wilder.

Over the course of the last four-and-a-half years, Egan has been massive for the Blades in both the Championship and Premier League, during a period of real success. He’s been involved in three pushes for promotion, a ninth-placed top-flight finish and a testing relegation campaign.

It’s been a real journey and there’s more to come from Egan, as he’s underlined this season with his performances in the Championship for Paul Heckingbottom’s side.

As per Wyscout, he’s averaging 5.76 interceptions, 12.92 recoveries, 3.73 clearances and only 0.7 fouls per 90 in the Championship this term. That’s backed up with an overall defensive duel success of 69.3% and a passing accuracy of 82.5%, which is made even more impressive given just under two of those per 90 are backwards; he’s a progressive heartbeat in the back-three.

Those numbers mirror what we saw from Egan in his first season as a full Sheffield United player (2018/19) when he was, again, central to a side chasing automatic promotion.

The hunger remains with Egan even after passing 200 games as a Blade.

“That’s the hunger every day you come in, to improve and be successful,” Egan said, as quoted by the Sheffield Star, discussing the ambition of a second Premier League promotion in the space of five seasons.

Playing a high number of minutes, producing outstanding defensive numbers and driving standards like that, it makes it quite a simple decision when it comes to extending the 30-year-old’s contract beyond the terms he signed until 2024.

That’s little over a year away now and the centre-back deserves the security of not seeing his deal tick into its final 12 months – when the landscape off-field changes at Bramall Lane, of course.

Egan has shown that, beyond what the club hope is a positive outcome in the promotion race, he’s got Premier League quality, having made 67 top-flight appearances between 2019 and 2021. The loyalty has been there, too, sticking by the Blades despite that shocking 2020/21 and subsequent drop into the EFL.

The last couple of transfer windows must have tested his loyalty: relegation, a poor start under Slavisa Jokanovic and then a heartbreaking end to the season in the play-offs last season. That’s been rewarded by, what we think, will be a promotion-winning 2022/23. A new contract should follow for the man destined to take the captaincy off Billy Sharp at some point when the 37-year-old hangs up his boots.

Quite whether Egan can mirror his current captain’s career in playing for another seven years remains to be seen, yet he’s proved with 199 appearances (one of the 200 came on loan back in 2012), in little over four-and-a-half years, that he’s robust enough for another double century in the red and white.

Quiz: Are these 20 Sheffield United facts real or fake?

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Sheffield United were founded in 1889