Well... This was a lovely surprise wasn't it? It was a bit like finding a tenner hidden down the back of the settee except in this case out tenner was a 6ft 5in Norwegian from Genk who cost about £22 million. So.. Enough build up, let's review this transfer window (spoiler: it was a very, VERY, good window.)
Jack Rodwell Signed from: Unattached Previous clubs: Everton, Man City, Sunderland, Blackburn Rovers Career appearances/Goals: 189/12 Career Honours: FA Cup Runner up 2008/09, Premier League 2013/14, Victory Shield 2006, Euro Under-21 Championship 2009 Just while looking up Rodwell's appearances and goals, it turns out that myself and Jack share a birthday so that's rather nice. Anyway, Jack Rodwell! A player who much was expected of when he was coming through at Everton, it's all gone a bit haywire for the man from Southport with a big money move to Man City at the age of 21 not paying off and what followed was a frustrating career that has taken in Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers before coming to The Blades. It's not really Rodwell's lack of skill and technical ability that has let him down over the years but his problems with injuries. Over the course of his 13 year career, Rodwell has missed a combined 374 days of action thanks to various injuries. Despite this, Rodwell did have a pretty productive season for Blackburn last year and showed flashes of his early promise by playing in both midfield and the defence. It's a signing that is low risk and potentially high reward because despite his time away from the Premier League, Rodwell does have experience at this level and his versatility could prove crucial as we get into the business end of the season. Hopefully the short term contract that he has signed becomes a longer one but only time will tell. Jack Robinson Signed from: Nottingham Forest Previous clubs: Liverpool, Wolves, Blackpool, QPR, Huddersfield Town, Nottingham Forest Career appearances/Goals: 173/4 Career Honours: N/A A signing that we apparently nearly made a couple of years ago, Jack Robinson has finally joined The Blades ranks and comes in to provide cover for Enda. A graduate of the Liverpool academy, Robinson has gone on to have a steady career at Championship level. To be honest, there's not that much to say about Robinson. I'm sure he'll do a good job when called upon. So, let's get onto the real meat of the transfer window. Sander Berge Signed from: Genk Previous clubs: Asker, Valerenga, Genk Career appearances/Goals: 117/4 Career Honours: Belgian First Divison A 2018/19, Belgian Super Cup 2019 AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Sorry for the outburst but oh my goodness. Three years ago, we were waiting with baited breath as we unveiled Lee Evans and Ryan Leonard. Sander Berge is a player that is a tiny bit better than both of those guys, this is a player that at 21 already has 20 full caps for his country and was instrumental in getting Genk the League and Cup double last season and impressed both Jurgen Klopp and Virgil Van Dijk during Genk's Champions League games with Liverpool earlier on this season. Oh, did I forget to mention that this lad has played in the Champions League? Not only that, he's played in the Europa League as well. And it's not like when we signed Barry Robson, oh no, this lads not even in his prime and has been playing regularly against Europe's elite this year. Is this the most exciting signing in the history of Sheffield United? Quite possibly, and that's taking into account when we signed Lilian Nalis. This lad was being coveted by teams like Napoli and Manchester United and yet here he is. About to lace up his boots for Sheffield United. This is not a consolidate our position in the league signing, this is a signing that teams wanting to crack Europe make. Let's hope he's half decent, I have a feeling he'll meet that expectation and then some. Richario Zikovic Signed from: Changchun Yatai Previous clubs: FC Groningen, Ajax, Jong Ajax, Willem II, FC Utrecht, Oostende, Changchun Yatai Career appearances/Goals: 205/76 Career Honours: N/A Bursting onto the scene with Groningen during the 2013/14 season, Zikovic managed to score a very respectable 11 goals in 33 league games at the age of just 17. This season put him on the radar of Ajax but after making limited appearances in his first season (7 appearances, 1 goal) Zikovic was sent to Jong Ajax with the aim to develop him further and he managed to have three pretty good years in the Eerste Divisie, making 40 appearances and scoring 27 goals, despite this Zikovic was loaned out to Willem II and then FC Utrecht and was then sold on to Belgian Pro League team Oostende. Two years later and he was on the move again this time moving to China and Changchun Yatai. And after 15 goals in 25 games, Zikovic now finds himself at The Lane. This seems to be a player that could be one of Wilder's projects with this move seemingly being the one to try and get his career back on track. If there's one thing that Zikovic has, it's pace. He's absolutely rapid with one clip being shared around showing him bursting from within his own half and managing to beat out a defender that had a pretty healthy lead on him and slot home past an advancing keeper. He looks like he could be a Moose mark 2 and it could be very exciting to see a partnership between Moose and Ziko run hell for leather at Premier League defences. Panagiotis Retsos Signed from: Bayer Leverkusen Previous clubs: Olympiacos, Bayer Leverkusen Career appearances/Goals: 47/1 Career Honours: Super League 2016/17, Super League Greece Best Young Player of the Year 2016/17 Finishing off our January dealings it's another player with lots expected of him. Retsos was made captain of Olympiacos at just 18 years of age and lead his team to a league title whilst picking up the best young player of the year award for the Greek top division that year. This impressive season led to Leverkusen splashing the cash departing with a fee of around £15.75 million to secure the young Greek's signature. A promising start to his Leverkusen career was cut short after a blow to his quadriceps in pre season led to Retsos being diagnosed with Tendonitis. From this point on Retsos has found his chances at Leverkusen limited and just as he seemed to be getting back to fitness, another injury would affect him and he'd be back to square one. Despite the injuries, Retsos is still highly thought of in Germany and this signing was seen as a bit of a coup by many analysts. If he can stay injury free, we could have a cracking player on our hands and with the chance to sign him in the summer on the table, it's another low risk, high reward signing. I didn't think I'd be calling a player who was bought by one of the biggest clubs in Germany for over £15 million three years ago a low risk signing but I guess this is just the way Sheffield United roll now. And I'm loving it. So, was this a good window? After the relative shrug shoulders signing of Rodwell and Robinson, the build up and eventual signing of Berge was some of the most exciting times that I think I've had as a Blade that didn't include us playing any actual football. We now live in a world where one of the top prospects in European football see's Sheffield United as the next step upwards on their footballing journey. The Berge signing isn't only incredible because of the here and now but it also opens the possibility to talents like Berge joining and seeing United as a positive way to further their career and that is what's most exciting about this signing. We're not only playing in the big boy league, we're looking to make a name for ourselves in it. Until next time Blades, enjoy Saturday and as always, UTB.
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AuthorHi my name is John and i will be giving my thoughts on the blades matches and all blades related news in this section Archives
November 2022
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