Leeds United's Championship promotion rivals agree huge £105m deal with announcement 'imminent'
Sheffield United will expect to be challenging Leeds United for promotion this season.
Sheffield United look to be edging closer to a major deal with reports claiming their takeover could be confirmed this week. Leeds United’s key Championship promotion rivals look set to be boosted financially by the prospective new owners, who could look to reinforce the squad for a post-January promotion push.
The Championship club’s future has been uncertain for months amid protracted talks between current owner Prince Abdullah and a US-based consortium. Deadlines have come and gone all season amid growing frustration among supporters, with the exit-bound chief inevitably sceptical of spending big before cashing in.
Talks look to have progressed in recent days, however, and journalist Alan Nixon reported on Monday that a deal could be confirmed ‘in the next 48 hours’, with the consortium led by Steve Rosen set to purchase Sheffield United for around £105million. Those claims have also been backed by The Star, who add that an agreement looks ‘imminent’ after recent steps forward.
A number of speedbumps have been crossed, including a reshuffle within the buying consortium and demand from the EFL for financial guarantees, and confirmation is now expected to come before Sheffield United face Sheffield Wednesday this weekend. It means the promotion-chasing Blades will be under new and ambitious ownership well before the January transfer window opens.
But that will not necessarily lead to a lavish mid-season window, with Nixon suggesting the possibility of early conflict between the new owners and their manager. He claims Rosen is keen to spend in a bid to aid their promotion chances, while Chris Wilder could be more cautious of tinkering with a tight-knit squad that is performing well.
Despite overseeing the exit of more than a dozen first-team players and spending very little in the summer, those in charge at Bramall Lane have built a competitive - albeit somewhat thin - squad. Seven-figure fees were spent on Harrison Burrows, Kieffer Moore and Michael Cooper while the likes of Callum O’Hare, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Alfie Gilchrist arrived either for free or on loan.
Sheffield United currently sit third in the Championship, one place and one point behind Leeds, after beating Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City 2-0 over the past week. Those wins allowed Wilder’s side to bounce back after a toothless display saw them lose by the same scoreline at Elland Road last month.
Wilder admitted that Leeds were ‘head and shoulders’ above any team they’d played before and deserved to win on the night, with second-half goals from Pascal Struijk and Mateo Joseph capping off a dominant performance from Daniel Farke’s men. But despite that defeat, Sheffield United would be above their Yorkshire rivals, were it not for a two-point deduction before the campaign kicked off.
Confirmation of the takeover will bring stability to the South Yorkshire club ahead of a crucial winter period, with the expectation being that money will now be there if Wilder wants to strengthen in January. The Blades sit alongside Leeds as the popular prediction to win promotion, with early frontrunners Sunderland also looking competitive.