Leeds United had their sights set on Sheffield United standout Gustavo Hamer. However, one former player is praising the Blades for not selling him because of his performance this season.
After the Blades were relegated from the Premier League last season, there was uncertainty about whether they could hold onto Hamer, especially with Leeds making a strong push for him.
However, Sheffield United turned down a £13 million offer from Leeds and successfully retained the 27-year-old midfielder. Nonetheless, the Whites’ CEO Angus Kinnear revealed what transpired behind the scenes, noting that Sheffield United are a difficult club to do business with this summer.
“Sheffield United are a difficult club to deal with at the moment because they’re in an ownership transition so there’s no friendly face who you can ring up and get a sense of whether a player’s for sale or not,” Kinnear said this month on The Square Ball.
“The only way to provoke the conversation was to make an offer, and we made an offer which we think was at a fair level, and they came back very clearly and said he was not for sale in this window to anybody, and he certainly wasn’t on sale to Leeds United, and there was no price that could pull him away.”
Former EFL star Adrian Clarke praises Sheffield United
Hamer has been with Sheffield United since 2023 and has appeared in 46 matches across all competitions for the Blades. During his time with the English side, the player has scored nine goals and recorded eight assists.
Former EFL star Adrian Clarke revealed that Leeds strongly desired to sign Hamer and believes Sheffield United did a great job keeping him.
“He was their player of the year last year, Hamer,” Clarke said on What The EFL. “Four goals in six [games]. Leeds wanted him quite badly and Sheffield United resisted the temptation and they will be delighted they did.
“Because coming in from the left hand side he has been easily their best player so far this season. He is such a match winner, Hamer.”
It will be interesting to see if, in the January window, Leeds can find that attacking midfield that they were craving to land this past summer.
