"Exciting times" - Claim made as Sheffield United rival Rangers for 15-assist star | OneFootball

Sheffield United are set to miss out on the 23-year-old

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Sheffield United have been in a transfer battle with Rangers for Oliver Antman.

The Blades were reported to be leading the race for the Finish international’s signature, but now Russell Martin’s outfit look to have leapfrogged the Steel City Side.

Football League World exclusively revealed earlier this month that Sheffield United have been operating on a restricted transfer budget and were looking mainly at free transfers and loans, which would make it extremely frustrating to miss out on Antman if they’ve made him a priority purchase.

Football League World’s Sheffield United fan pundit, Jimmy (AKA Blades Ramble) would’ve welcomed the winger to Bramall Lane but is more impressed with the club’s transfer business on the whole.

Sheffield United praised for transfer strategy this summer amid Oliver Antman saga

“Antman seems to be a player the Blades are becoming more and more familiar with,” stated Jimmy.

“We've been linked with him for a couple of weeks now. It now seems the latest is that Rangers are leading the race ahead of Sheffield United.

“But from what we've seen, I do like him. 15 assists in the Eredivisie is nothing to be sniffed at.

“Overall, it appears as though despite some questions from United fans have been answered, when we weren’t moving very quickly. The volume of signings hasn’t been too high, but we’ve made two really smart additions in the form of Tyler Bindon and Louie Barry.

“We've looked at using data for low-risk, high-potential signings and there is a belief that money is there to be spent on players like Antman if we believe that he can make a real difference for us.

“So, it's good times at Sheffield United and these are exciting times to be a Blades supporter. It's very different to what we're used to. We are used to more of a turnover of players, but there's a good foundation here at the Lane and a lot of us Blades are becoming more and more excited as the days go by.”

Sheffield United may be forced to explore other options

If Rangers do follow through on their reported interest, it seems unlikely that Sheffield United will be able to salvage the Antman move now.

Ruben Selles currently enjoys options such as Andre Brooks and Louie Barry to operate on the flanks, but he would be expected to need at least one more choice to operate with out wide.

Antman would’ve provided this, but now the Blades must turn their attention elsewhere and fall back on other targets.

The Steel City side clearly raised the funds necessary to acquire the 23-year-old’s services, so it will be interesting to see if they choose to invest that in some other players or risk sticking with what they’ve got.