Sheffield United's ideal Gus Hamer replacement is German midfielder currently playing in the USA | OneFootball

After a strong start to the season for the Dutch midfielder, the Blades should look across the pond if anyone comes knocking for Hamer in January.

It's been a solid start to the season for Gustavo Hamer at Sheffield United, who is an established fan favourite at Bramall Lane.

After joining the Blades from Coventry City for an alleged £15 million and impressing during their doomed 2023/24 Premier League campaign, the Brazil-born Dutch midfielder has come out of the blocks well in his return to the second tier as the club look to bounce back up to the top flight at the first time of asking.

He has registered four goals and a single assist in 14 league appearances for the Blades, which sees them sitting pretty at the right end of the table. Only Sunderland's superior goal difference is currently preventing them from taking top spot and United would be top had they not been deducted two points.

With the January transfer window just around the corner, the Blades will be looking to hold onto Hamer but at Championship level, every player is for sale if the price is right.

Should the South Yorkshire club turn to the stats to look for a replacement them Marcel Hartel may be a player they look to.

Marcel Hartel profile

Hartel is a 28-year-old German midfielder currently representing MLS side St. Louis City, after joining from his native St. Pauli earlier this year.

He was signed as one of the Missouri club's Designated Players, a unique rule in the league that means clubs can sign a certain number of players on a higher wage than the average MLS player. This rule has previously allowed the likes of David Beckham and Lionel Messi to head stateside in the autumn of their careers.

Hartel's impressive St. Pauli stats of 17 goals and 13 assists, across 33 appearances in 2023/24, prompted the MLS franchise to secure his services back in July. He is so far making good on St. Louis' investment in him, scoring five goals and making six assists in just 13 matches across all competitions in the USA.

He came through the youth ranks of 1. FC Köln before going on to represent the club at senior level, later playing for Union Berlin and Arminia Bielefeld prior to St. Pauli.

Comparisons with Hamer

According to FBref, Hartel's stats throughout 2024 are the most similar to Hamer's, as of 14 November 2024.

Hartel has made nine league starts for St. Louis, two less than Hamer has for Sheffield United (11). In that time, however, the German has bagged a combined eight goals and assists in the MLS, compared to Hamer's five.

What's more, there is only a value of 0.1, in favour of the German (1.9 to 1.8) separating the players' expected goals (xG), with Hartel's xG per 90 minutes of 0.22 beating that of Hamer's (0.17).

The Dutchman does, however, tend to hit the target more than his German counterpart, with a percentage of 35.1% (13 shots on target out of 37) compared to Hartel's 28.6% effort (4 shots on target out of 14). This equates to Hamer averaging 1.21 shots on target in 90 minutes to Hartel's 0.44.

Conversely, with a pass completion statistic of 80.9% - 334 passes completed out of 413, the St. Louis midfielder is superior in the passing department compared to his South Yorkshire equivalent. Hamer has completed 284 passes out of a possible 437, a completion percentage of 65%.

Their tackling stats are also very similar. Hartel has won seven tackles compared to Hamer's six, with the German winning five in the last third compared to the Dutchman's four. Nonetheless, Hamer has made more blocks (six) than Hartel (five) as well as interceptions (7-6), but they are inseparable in the number of dribbles successfully stopped, with five each.

German quality reinforced in the American Midwest

It is highly unlikely Hamer would stay in the Championship should he spark interest in January, as the Blades would probably not be willing to sell to a direct title rival. However, the allure of the Premier League - combined with no absolute guarantee of promotion this season - may be too good for the Dutchman to resist.

If this was to happen, it's clear the Blades should set their sites for a replacement in comparatively less-chartered territory. It feels pretty irregular for a European club to look to the USA for talent to bring back to the continent, but it is not uncommon. The likes of Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey, and Christian Pulisic have proved you can successfully make the hop across the pond to Europe.

However, in Hartel's case, signing for Sheffield United would be a matter of returning to his European roots after his German quality was reinforced in the American Midwest, rather than an American coming to set up shop in Europe.

Although he has only recently made the switch stateside, he has a proven track record in Europe and his arrival in S2 would almost be like-for-like should Gustavo Hamer move on. This could prove pivotal in the Blades' push for promotion come the end of the season.