All summer, we appeared to be tracking a number of attacking players and had several bids rejected for them. There is one player, whose links to us just won’t seem to go away though.
While it is unclear whether we made a concrete bid for Sheffield United’s Gustavo Hamer, it seems that we are being credited with January interest in him now.
Obviously with the Blades being rooted to the bottom of the Championship – I get it – and yes, he may well move if it looks like the club will get relegated, though I keep seeing that he wants to move to PSV Eindhoven, which, I get it; he’s Dutch.
Though, if we are in a good position by January; mid-table or just lower, looking likely to stay up and push on, he may well be tempted.
Where I Foresee A Problem And A Possible Solution
With many of you seemingly annoyed that we didn’t add to our squad at the end of the window – I get it – I was slightly annoyed – it seems for PSR, we simply couldn’t spend anymore.
Now, that would put us in a problematic position in January, if we went in for him and he wanted to come. If the Blades are still near the bottom of the table, this would probably be likely, and it weakens their natural negotiation stance.
I still think, they would want at least £12 million for him (considerably less than their summer asking price) though and it’s unlikely that we could spare this for this financial year. However, the solution could be, to take him on loan with a buy obligation, though also pay a small loan fee of a couple of million for him that gets taken off his total fee.
This would mean that, the Blades have at least something to go towards replacing him – I’d guess from the lower leagues – I honestly don’t care. But crucially, it prevents us from having a negative balance for the year. I’m fairly certain a £2 million fee would get green-lighted if it meant the total fee was reduced in the summer.
Hamer Can Be A difference-Maker
There is no doubting Hamer’s quality and he has experienced the top-flight. He was easily the best player for the Blades when they were in the Premier League and I’m very surprised they’ve been able to keep hold of him.
We could definitely do with more spark in attack, despite new signing Noah Okafor starting to show what he can do. What I like about Hamer though, is that he’s versatile; he can operate from the left or attacking midfield – even slightly deeper – Daniel Farke would probably like this. But, his ability to play pass, considering the pacey wingers we already have, could be a huge asset to us, should we sign him. He’s also a weapon from free-kicks.
I know you lot would probably prefer a top striker to come in, but that is highly unlikely (at least not until next summer should we stay up), though I don’t think any of you would turn down the chance to sign Hamer if it came along. Especially on the terms I’ve outlined.
