The 2021-22 campaign saw Sheffield United finish fifth in the Championship table, but ended the season with 63 league goals and barely a fit striker. The latter months of the campaign were finalised with attacking midfielders, Illiman Ndiaye, and Morgan Gibbs-White occupying the top two positions, largely due to injuries in this position.
Injuries caused havoc in the United side last season, with Billy Sharp, Rhian Brewster, Oli McBurnie, Lys Mousset, who was released this summer, and David McGoldrick, who is now at Derby County, absent for the majority of the season – leaving Ndiaye and Gibbs-White to lead the line, whilst youngsters Daniel Jebbison and Will Osulu deputised on the substitutes bench.
Last season they reached the Play-Off semi-final, losing, agonisingly, to Nottingham Forest on penalties. If the Blades are serious about mounting an attack on promotion this time around then they require more firepower in attack, and we believe that we have located a strong, physical attacker who can supply the finishing touch
28-year-old Lucas Joao netted ten goals last season in a Reading side that narrowly avoided relegation from the Championship, and was on target against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane in the Good Friday defeat on 15th April – imagine the influence he could have in a United side with service in the final third.
According to transfermarkt.com, is valued at around £4,000,000, though with twelve months remaining on his contract at the Select Car Leasing Stadium – any buyer may be able to purchase at a fraction of the price.
The striker is familiar to Steel City after arriving in England after being signed by rivals Sheffield Wednesday from the Portuguese side Nacional in July 2015. He spent four years at Hillsborough before signing for Reading for an undisclosed fee in August 2019.
With the S6 club, he scored 29 goals in 128 appearances. One of which was in the ‘Bouncing Day Massacre,’ on 24th September 2017, when the Blades won the Steel City Derby 4-2. In May 2016, Joao was an unused substitute as Wednesday lost 1-0 in the Championship Play-Off Final at Wembley, against Hull City.
To date, he made 83 appearances and scored 38 goals for the Royals, where they avoided relegation into League One, finishing four points better off than the last relegation spot.