Swansea City certainly got the better end of this Sheffield United transfer agreement: View | OneFootball

Highlights

Oli McBurnie's red card in Sheffield United's 5-0 defeat to Burnley last weekend compounded a poor start to the season for both the player and the club.

The Blades' defeat in Lancashire saw manager Paul Heckingbottom sacked and left the club bottom of the league with just one win and five points.

McBurnie was sent off after receiving two yellow cards within nine minutes of each other at Turf Moor. His club were 2-0 down in a crucial game at the time, and he has since been criticised for letting his team down. Former Celtic man Chris Sutton brandished him an 'idiot', according to the Daily Mail.

McBurnie joined the Blades from Swansea City in 2019 for a then club record fee of £20m according to Fotmob, after an impressive Championship campaign in a young Swansea team under Graham Potter.

However, the Scottish striker has never quite been able to hit those same heights again at Bramall Lane.

Why did Sheffield United sign Oli Mcburnie?

McBurnie had an outstanding breakthrough season in south Wales, scoring 24 goals in all competitions as the Swans finished 10th in the 2018/19 Championship.

This was his first real season playing regular senior football after previously having to make do with cameo appearances from the bench and appearances for Swansea's U23 side whilst the club were a Premier League outfit.

However, he did spend the second-half of the 2017/18 season on loan at Barnsley, where he scored nine times in 17 Championship games for the Tykes.

This was enough for Swansea to make McBurnie their first choice striker after relegation to the Championship in 2018. He performed incredibly well for the Swans, ironically scoring in the first game of the season away at Sheffield United, before netting 24 goals in 44 appearances in all competitions.

Sheffield United had just been promoted from the Premier League and after seeing what McBurnie was capable of in the Championship, they forked out a club record fee to bring him to the Lane.

How has Oli McBurnie performed for Sheffield United?

Both McBurnie and the Blades enjoyed a good 2019/20 campaign, with the club finishing ninth in the Premier League and the Scottish striker scoring six Premier League goals in 24 league starts.

However, the club would endure a disastrous 2020/21 season, finishing rock bottom of the league, amassing just 23 points. The striker would endure a torrid time with injuries and net just once all season in what was certainly a season to be forgotten at Bramall Lane.

With the club back in the Championship, McBurnie would have hoped to find some of the form which saw him enjoy a great campaign in the second division in 2018/19, but he failed to score a league goal all season. His one and only goal coming in a League Cup tie with Southampton.

In fairness to the Scotsman, he did enjoy a far more fruitful 2022/23 campaign, scoring 13 league goals as the Blades were promoted, but it's still quite a way from the numbers he reached at Swansea.

So far this season, McBurnie has found the back of the net twice in the Premier League, but his club will need more from him this season if they're to have any chance of staying up.

Quite remarkably, despite playing 83 more games for Sheffield United, McBurnie has still scored more goals for Swansea.

With this in mind, it's fair to say that Swansea have probably had the better deal with McBurnie's £20m move to Sheffield United.

However, the striker is still a popular figure at Bramall Lane and just last week it was reported by Teamtalk that the club have opened talks to extend McBurnie's deal at the club past the summer of 2024, when it's due to expire.