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Sheffield United Have Will Smallbone Offer Turned Down By Southampton
Wednesday, 9th Aug 2023 12:35

If losing James Ward Prowse to West Ham is a problem, then it is about to get worse with the man tipped to be his successor being chased by newly promoted Sheffield United and an initial offer having been turned down.

Perhaps the man of the match at Hillsborough on Friday night was Will Smallbone, but he now could swap ends of the Yorkshire City and join Sheffield United if the Blades have their way.

Yorkshire media outlet Examiner Live report that The Blades have had an initial bid of £7 million turned down flat by Saints

caughtoffside.com expand on the story further reporting that Smallbone himself is "Desperate" to move.

They claim that the midfielder who has a year left on his contract is not being offered what he is seeking salary wise from Saints, but that Sheffield United are willing to match his demands and are pushing hard for the deal to be done.

Whilst it is natural that certain players are being linked with moves, it seems that someone is trying to stir things up in this deal, possibly Sheffield United as they try to prise him away from St Mary's, but more likely an agent or two, looking to get a transfer chain moving.

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SaintPaulVW added 13:38 - Aug 9
If he only has a year left then he may well go if the money is right. I'm sure £7million isn't enough though. Sadly some players that ideally we might want to keep are going to go.

As Will had time off with injury he is going to be aware of how brief a career in football can be.

Ultimately though in making a decision, it may be down to how convincing the aspirations and plans for long term success are. If he sees Saints are well set up then he may sign a new deal.
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IanRC added 13:45 - Aug 9
Come on SR get your finger out and offer him a good deal.
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Monksway added 14:05 - Aug 9
A new deal is surely a more effective option than trying to buy a replacement. It's going to be a difficult three weeks for Saints with so many players apparently keen to leave and others unsuitable for whatever reason.
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DPeps added 14:17 - Aug 9
My positive mood of Friday is evaporating fast. If we are to sell then the replacements need to be good. Of course, SR have a patchy record on signings so far.

I'd say that Sheffield United are almost certain to go down so it might not be the best move for smallbone long term
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SanMarco added 14:59 - Aug 9
I think we are going to find that every player who is actively pursued is going to end up going. It is the way of the world for relegated teams. Given the JWP farce I expect that with Smallbone we will hold out for 7m.

If we end up losing Tella, Adams, KWP, Smallbone as well as Lavia, JWP and Livramento then we are left reliant on SR to make sensible signings of adequate players who fit into the system that the manager wants to play. Of course if they had done that at the start of last season...
4

highfield49 added 15:30 - Aug 9
After being impressed by the performance last Friday in Sheffield I'm now trying not to overreact to a very disappointing defeat at Gillingham with a different bunch of players from the same squad. To read that Smallbone, one of the better players on Friday, might be unsettled is concerning, to read that JWP is probably joining WHU is making me wonder who will be playing in midfield against Norwich.
None of the senior players who failed at Gillingham are going to react positively to the manager's criticism. I'm not sure how you lift the players to perform at the weekend when the mood around the training ground will be dire. Rule number one in football management take the blame for picking the team and never have a go at players in public.
It's even clearer now that several players are no longer required and hopefully they will all find new clubs who believe in their ability. The obvious question now is whether the right replacements can be found. It's all very well getting decent money for four or five players leaving but surely we still owe payments on several recent signings who have been absolute disasters. Any money recouped from selling these individuals will, in my mind, go straight to the clubs we bought them from and each one will likely be a financial loss.
Last Friday I was feeling positive and now, with the benefit of this week's events, I'm feeling like the future is a lot less positive for SFC.
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Block8 added 16:43 - Aug 9
We need to ship out the players who are, either not required and/or don't want to be here. However we also need to keep the ones who we see as essential to our progress, at this level, Will Smallbone is one of those!
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LondonSaint76 added 17:08 - Aug 9
With JWP now going to West Ham that’s £100k a week off the wage bill, so, SR for God’s sake just give WS what he is asking for - and whilst you are at it, give Tella an improved deal as well. Show both of them you value them, show both of them (+ Sheff U & Burnley) that you mean business. RM has had nothing but praise for WS - so RM, you need to get in front of Wilcox and demand these issues are actioned immediately.
I’d invest the JWP money in Piroe & Kasper Schmeichel (Nice would take £9m for KS) and just prey that the rumours of Palace being interested in McCarthy, as mentioned in another post, are actually true! If Palace are interested and stilll want Che then we could do a Tesco’s offer for them, buy one, get one free - I’ll leave you to work out which one they get for free…
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