Sheffield United struck gold with combined £4.5m expense on Brentford ace and Leeds United swoop | OneFootball

Both John Egan and Billy Sharp were top signings for Sheffield United

Sheffield United have had their fair share of ups and downs in recent years, and suffered relegation from the Premier League in both 2021 and 2024.

The Bramall Lane faithful will hold happier memories of the 2016/17 season, though, when the Blades won the League One title at the end of a stellar campaign.

The South Yorkshire outfit went on to win promotion from the Championship to the Premier League in both 2019 and 2023, which supporters will never forget.

Chris Wilder's men even defied expectations during the 2019/20 top-flight season, as they remarkably landed a ninth-place finish at the end of that Premier League campaign.

Over the years, Blades supporters have also been treated to seeing several talented individuals don the club's illustrious red and white stripes, while Football League World takes a look at two acquisitions the South Yorkshire side struck gold with:

John Egan

During the summer of 2018, the Bramall Lane club signed Ireland international defender and then Brentford captain John Egan for a fee of £4m, as per Sky Sports.

That turned out to be an inspired piece of business from the Blades, as Egan helped the club win promotion to the Premier League during his first ever season in S2.

The defender subsequently proved his worth at top-flight level, making 36 appearances during the aforementioned 2019/20 season in which Wilder's men came close to landing a European spot.

Both the Irishman and the Blades would ultimately struggle during the following Premier League season, suffering relegation back to the Championship in 2021.

However, Egan showcased his defensive talents upon his and the club's return to the second-tier, as he helped them reach the play-offs in 2022 before helping the South Yorkshire side win promotion back to the top-flight in 2023.

Egan left the Blades to join Burnley during the summer of 2024, and will always be remembered by the Bramall Lane faithful for making over 220 appearances in which he often performed flawlessly.

Billy Sharp

Billy Sharp is a modern-day Blades legend, so it is difficult to fathom that the men from S2 agreed a fee of just £500,000 to facilitate his return to the club from Leeds United during the summer of 2015.

Sharp is from Sheffield, and played for the red and white half of the Steel City during two separate spells in his career, after rising through the club's youth academy ranks.

But it was during his second spell with the club, from 2015-2023, that he achieved legendary status at Bramall Lane, as he notched 116 goals in 311 appearances.

The striker will never be forgotten by the Blades faithful as he produced a stunning return of 30 goals and seven assists in 46 appearances during the 2016/17 League One season in which his side emerged as champions.

Sharp would later fire his side all the way to the Premier League by notching 24 goals and four assists during the 2018/19 Championship campaign.

While the striker proved to be significantly less prolific in the Premier League, Blades supporters will be proud of the fact that he scored for their side in every division from the third-tier to the top-tier.