Sheffield United and Leeds United are very much locked in a tight battle at the top of the Championship to see who can lift the second-tier title come May.
Whenever the Blades pick up a win, it seems the Whites then follow suit, with a fascinating tussle emerging at the summit of the league subsequently.
Regardless of the South Yorkshire side having to often settle for a spot behind Leeds, there will be plenty that Chris Wilder is pleased by currently as some key performers continue to stick out.
Sheffield United's best performers in 2024/25
One of those figures that Wilder will be overjoyed with is Harrison Burrows with the ex-Peterborough United man – who did concede an unfortunate own goal last time out against Hull City – finding his shooting boots of late despite often lining up as a defender.
He has managed to pick up three goals recently, with his brace against Norwich steering the Blades to a routine home victory, whilst a confidently dispatched penalty in Wales was also enough for another three points to be secured.
Away from the standout number 14, another key face is undoubtedly Gustavo Hamer, who has a sizeable goal collection himself this campaign.
It has been proven to be a masterstroke by Wilder to deploy Hamer down the left channel as opposed to fielding him in a more central role, with a mightily impressive 11 goal contributions coming his way in the league from 27 outings.
With new additions such as Ben Brereton Diaz who will also boost the United attack, everything is looking rosy at Bramall Lane for an instant return to the Premier League despite Leeds’ unwanted presence.
With the Chilean entering the building, alongside the capture of in-demand striker, Tom Cannon, from Leicester City it will severely worry one member of the team, in particular.
The Sheffield United star who could suffer from Brereton & Cannon signing
Whilst the likes of Burrows and Hamer were instantly able to hit the ground running as new recruits, Rhian Brewster really struggled to adapt to his fresh environment when joining the-then Premier League outfit back in 2020.
The outrageous £23.5m price tag put above his head wouldn’t have helped matters either, with the pressure to live up to that steep fee proving to be too much, as Brewster failed to score a single league goal during his debut season in South Yorkshire.
United would have just hoped that gambling on the raw youngster was a risk that would pay off, with Brewster helping himself to an impressive 13 goals and ten assists at U21 level for the Reds before his car-crash switch to Bramall Lane came to be.
Since those goal-laden days in the Liverpool youth ranks, however, the 24-year-old has endured a nightmare with injury issues galore and barren patches in front of goal becoming far too common.
Games played
103
Goals scored
7
Assists
2
Games missed through injury
99
Transfer cost
£30m
Wage
£35k-per-week
Wage costs over a year
£1.8m
The table above makes for some pretty grim reading, with Brewster only able to pick up a paltry seven goals from 103 total games donning a Blades jersey among other worrying numbers.
With his sketchy injury record also seeing him miss an alarming 99 games owing to recurring hamstring issues, it might well be smart for United to part ways soon with the dud’s current contract expiring in June.
That’s before you even take into account his extortionate £35k-per-week salary, which sees him rake in more than both the aforementioned Hamer and Burrows surprisingly, who pocket a far more modest £30k-per-week and £12.5k-per-week respectively.
Ultimately, despite a mini resurgence which saw him score versus the Swans, United can only be patient with Brewster for so long, with fresh blood now looking likely to be preferred.
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