Sheffield United lodge £2.3m transfer bid for one-cap international defender | OneFootball

Sheffield United have made a £2.3m offer for Malmo defender Nils Zatterstrom.

Sheffield United have made an offer in excess of £2 million for Malmö centre-back Nils Zatterstrom as they look to strengthen Ruben Selles’ squad ahead of the deadline.

The Blades have endured a very disappointing start to the Championship season, with a 4-1 opening day defeat at home to Bristol City followed up by the weekend loss to Swansea, whilst they were also eliminated from the League Cup against Birmingham.

So, fans are understandably frustrated at how things have begun this season, and the boss has already outlined the need for reinforcements over the next two weeks.

Sheffield United make £2.3m offer for Malmo’s Nils Zatterstrom

Bringing in new defenders is unsurprisingly one of the priorities for Selles and the recruitment team, and it appears Zatterstrom has emerged as a key target.

That’s after Swedish media outlet Fotbollskanalen revealed that the Blades had made an offer of £2.3 million for Zatterstrom.

Whilst it’s unclear whether Malmö would be willing to accept the offer, the update explains that it hasn’t been rejected right now, so they are seemingly weighing up their options.

Zetterstrom isn't the only defensive target on the Blades' radar, with Ben Mee also linked with a move to the red-and-white quarters of the Steel City, and it's perhaps no surprise to see Selles and co so intent on bolstering the backline after three consecutive competitive defeats to start the season off.

Zatterstrom has made ten appearances in the top-flight this season, but he has found game time hard to come by recently, as he has been on the bench for the past six games, which includes Malmö’s Champions League qualifier against Copenhagen, which they lost over two legs.

`The 20-year-old has also been capped once at senior international level by Sweden, having made his bow as a late substitute in a 6-0 UEFA Nations League qualification thumping of Azerbaijan last November.

Sheffield United need a productive end to the transfer window

This is encouraging for Sheffield United, as it’s clear that the squad is lacking in key areas, as the first two performances haven’t been good enough.

Clearly, at least one centre-back is needed, and even though Zatterstrom is young, he would arrive with a decent pedigree as he has played his part for Malmö over the past two seasons, and he is someone who is very highly-rated in Sweden.

Whether he is capable of making an instant impact in the Championship is open to debate, but the Blades recruitment team must feel he is going to blossom into a top player at this level.

Again, this can’t be the only bit of business that Sheffield United will do over the coming weeks, so it will be very interesting to see who they manage to bring through the door, and they will ideally want new faces ahead of Millwall’s visit to Bramall Lane this weekend as they seek their first win of the campaign.