I wouldn’t say it’s particularly Chris Wilder’s style, nor Sheffield United’s, but reports are linking us with a move for Aston Villa striker Scott Hogan.
The 26-year-old scored 19 goals in 40 appearances for Rochdale back in 2013/14 and that earned him a move to Brentford. Injuries hit him at the club and that seriously held him back in terms of game time but he still managed to leverage a reported £15million switch to Aston Villa in January 2017, having made 36 appearances for the Griffin Park outfit, scoring 21 times.
His spell at Villa hasn’t quite hit the same heights with ten goals returned in 54 appearances in total, but given the type of striker he is, he needs service and our interest in the Irishman isn’t actually a surprise when you think of the way we could more play to his strengths at the top of the pitch.
It was the title of the piece in the Star that really caught my attention when it came to our style though.
It suggests we are interested in a possible loan move for the player and that we have a new openness to ‘exploit’ financial difficulties that others are in. Leaves an unsavoury taste when I say it out loud, but granted there will be plenty of Blades fans out there who relish the opportunity to balance some scores up given the way bigger clubs have poached our talent in previous years when it clearly suited them more than it did us.
Maybe it is Wilder’s more devilish side as has been hinted at before, especially his thoughts on Parachute Payments and how they are misused by many clubs in the game.
I do like the idea of Hogan at Bramall Lane though.