According to Fabrizio Romano, the former Lille custodian joined the Blades for slightly more than £2 million from the Spanish giants, with Chris Wilder looking for a new number one after Wes Foderingham’s poor showing in the first half of the season.
Despite previously playing in the Champions League, he has been unable to secure a starting spot at Bramall Lane, as Wilder’s side was relegated with three games remaining and broke the Premier League record for most goals conceded in a 38-game campaign.
Rotherham keeper Viktor Johansson has lately been linked with a move to the Blades, with Wilder likely looking for another number one as he seeks to offload high-earning players and reset the squad for the Championship after a humiliating top-flight campaign.
Despite having three years left on his contract, ties to other ‘keepers almost certainly imply Grbic will be on the move again as he attempts to put his disastrous term in England behind him, while Sheffield United cut their losses on a failed transfer.
His first start in a Blades shirt against Brighton on January 27 was a sign of things to come, as the Seagulls won 5-2 in the FA Cup Fourth Round, and Joao Pedro scored a hat-trick while sending him the wrong way from the penalty spot twice.
Then, in his first league start three days later, he collided with Crystal Palace’s Jean-Phillippe Mateta on 52 minutes with the game at 2-2 and suffered a concussion that immediately ruled him out of the next two matches.
After returning in a 1-0 loss to Wolves, his first league game at Bramall Lane saw Arsenal put six past him as the Blades became the first team in English football league history to lose three consecutive home games by a margin of 5+ goals.
Grbic kept his place though, with Wilder deciding to keep the faith with his new signing for the next six consecutive games despite a bad mistake to gift Darwin Nunez the opener in a 3-1 loss to Liverpool on April 4.
Despite being relegated this season, Rotherham stopper Viktor Johansson is highly regarded in the second division, with a number of clubs apparently pursuing his signature this summer, including Sheffield United.
He has won the Millers’ Player of the Season title in two consecutive seasons and has a rumoured relegation clause of under £900,000, according to journalist Alan Nixon, with the Blades linked with Stoke City and Leeds United in recent weeks.
In a recent interview with the Yorkshire Post, Chris Wilder confirmed that the club are ‘heavily in discussions with targets’ ahead of next season, despite the Premier League campaign not yet being over, and Johansson could be one of those, after his departure was all but confirmed by Steve Evans last week.
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