Who is Oliver Sorensen? The £5m star wanted by Sheffield United, Brighton and Brentford | OneFootball

The Blades have set their sights on the Danish midfielder and face stiff competition for his signature

Sheffield United look set to be firmly involved in the battle for promotion this season, and are reportedly eyeing up a move for FC Midtjylland midfielder Oliver Sorensen to bolster their ranks in January.

The Blades are currently sitting in fourth place in the Championship, with 22 points won from their opening 12 league games, and would be just one place off top spot had they not started on minus two points after they previously broke EFL rules by defaulting on payments to other clubs.

Chris Wilder was able to add numerous new players to his squad last summer, but the uncertainty surrounding the club’s owners certainly proved a stumbling block in their ability to build a top Championship side, so it would, therefore, not be a surprise to see them aim to improve on their squad in the January window.

Fresh reports of their interest in Sorensen come from transfer journalist, Alan Nixon, who claims that United are leading the race for the 22-year-old Dane's signature.

Nixon has revealed that Sorensen would be available for around £5 million, while he has also been tracked by Premier League sides Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion, but the Blades could win the race if they finalise a takeover before the new year.

Oliver Sorensen's career so far

Sorensen is a relatively unknown player on these shores, but he has been a part of Midtjylland's senior side for over four years now, and is currently regarded as one of the best young midfield talents in the Danish Superliga.

He joined the club's academy as a 15-year-old, and gained his first experience in men's football at the start of 2020 on loan at their affiliate club, Danish 1st Division side FC Fredericia, where he played 11 games and scored one goal before he returned to Midtjylland and made his first-team debut for the club in June 2020.

Sorensen did not get much game-time in the 2021/22 season, and was loaned out again to Norwegian Eliteserien club HamKam until the end of the year in March 2022, but was soon recalled by Midtjylland just three months later after he had managed to play just 275 minutes in 6 games.

He has since gone on to become a mainstay in the Wolves' first-team, and made 37 appearances as they finished seventh in the league in the 2022/23 campaign, as he won the club's Player of the Year award for his impressive performances.

Sorensen was again a key part of the starting eleven last season with 38 appearances as Midtjylland went on to win the Superliga title for just the fourth time in their history.

He has featured 14 times in all competitions so far this term, with five appearances and one goal in the Champions League qualifying phase, one appearance in the Europa League, and four goals in eight games in the Superliga with the club currently sat top of the table.

Sorensen is an energetic, imposing box-to-box midfielder who likes to drive forward from the middle of the park and put a tackle in, as well as having an eye for a goal, and his recent form means it will come as no shock that he is being linked to such names as the Blades, Brentford and Brighton.

Sorensen's arrival would surely trigger a Blades sale

It is difficult to see where the 22-year-old would fit into Wilder's current midfield, and with a rumoured price tag of around £5m, he would surely not be signed to sit on the bench for the majority of Championship games.

With that said, his potential arrival at Bramall Lane would surely be in tandem with an exit for one of the club's high-profile midfielders, such as Gustavo Hamer, Vinicius Souza or Ollie Arblaster.

Hamer has been one of the Championship's best players in recent years, and was one of the few in United's squad that emerged with credit from a turbulent 2023/24 Premier League campaign, and he received transfer interest from Leeds United in the summer as a result, but stayed at Bramall Lane for this term.

Interest in his signature is bound to be prevalent again in the new year, as it will in both Souza and Arblaster, who have each recieved plaudits for their performances in recent months, with the latter now the club captain at just 20-years-old.

It will be interesting to see what happens prior to the January window, but regardless of where Sorensen ends up in the new year, he should be set to go on and forge a decent career at the top level given his ability and potential.