Sheffield United will want to steer clear of January deal that left Bramall Lane disappointed | OneFootball

Sheffield United will want to steer clear of January deal that left Bramall Lane disappointed | OneFootball

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·09 de novembro de 2024

Sheffield United will want to steer clear of January deal that left Bramall Lane disappointed

Imagem do artigo:Sheffield United will want to steer clear of January deal that left Bramall Lane disappointed

Richairo Zivkovic failed to make an impact for the Blades

The upcoming January transfer window certainly looks as though it will be an interesting one at Sheffield United.


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It has been a strong start to the season for the Blades, who look as though they could push for an immediate promotion from the Championship back to the Premier League.

A strong window could help them to do that, and fans will be keen to see how the reportedly imminent takeover of the club by Steve Rosen might impact what business they do in the window.

Of course, Sheffield United will have to pick the right players if they are to recruit at the turn of the year, and so the signing of Richairo Zivkovic, is one they will not want to repeat.

Richairo Zivkovic arrived at Bramall Lane with decent pedigree

January 2020 was an exciting time for the Blades, who were in their first season back in the Premier League, and competing for a spot in Europe.

That position led the club to some intriguing and potentially exciting signings in that month's transfer window, one of which was Zivkovic.

The centre-forward joined Sheffield United from Chinese side Changchun Yatai on a loan deal until the end of the season, which also included an option to buy.

A former Dutch youth international, the striker had impressed in the top-flight in China the year before, scoring 15 goals in 25 appearances.

He also had pedigree in Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, where he had spent time with Dutch giants Ajax, as well as Groningen, Willem II and Utrecht.

Throughout that period, Zivkovic had shown he had the ability to score goals in a high level European league, with 23 goals in 94 appearances at that level.

He would also go on to score 12 goals for Oostende in 50 top-flight appearances in Belgium, so there was the potential for this to be a useful signing for Sheffield United.

In the end though, the signing of Zivkovic is one that is unlikely to be remembered fondly by anybody at Bramall Lane.

Richairo Zivkovic struggled to make an impact at Sheffield United

Having completed his move to Yorkshire at the end of January 2020, the striker had to wait for quite some time to get his chance with Wilder's side.

Imagem do artigo:Sheffield United will want to steer clear of January deal that left Bramall Lane disappointed

He did not make a single appearance for the club, before the season was postponed in mid-March that year due to the pandemic.

When the campaign did eventually resume in June, Zivkovic was finally able to get on the pitch for Sheffield United, although his involvement was limited.

In the ten games the Blades played after the re-start, the striker featured on just five occasions, although all of those were as a substitute.

During that time, the then 23-year-old rarely looked like making an impact in front of goal, and in the five appearances he did make, they lost four games and scored just two goals.

That came amid a disappointing end to the season behind closed doors for Sheffield United, in which their hopes of claiming a European spot somewhat drastically fell away.

However, had they been able to sign a player capable of making a greater impact than Zivkovic did, there is a possibility things would have been different.

As a result, it is perhaps no huge surprise, that the Blades elected not to take up their option to buy the striker at the end of the 2019/20 season.

With that in mind, Wilder's side will surely want to avoid a repeat of the sort of signing they got with Zivkovic this January.

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