The former Atletico Madrid man hasn’t lived up to expectations at Bramall Lane
Just months after moving to Yorkshire, Sheffield United will allow custodian Ivo Grbic to leave the team in the summer if the right offers are made.
The Blades’ terrible Premier League career came to an official end on Sunday afternoon, with a 3-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur serving as their parting memory of the competition.
United has had issues all over the pitch, but they have truly been caught off guard at the back. At an average of more than 2.7 goals per game, they allowed up the most goals any Premier League team has ever given up—104—during the season.
The uncertainty surrounding the goalkeeping position hasn’t helped these weaknesses either, as manager Chris Wilder doesn’t seem to be impressed by any of his choices.
In view of this glaring deficiency, the club have reportedly made a crucial choice on the future of their former Atlético Madrid goalkeeper, Grbic.
Sheffield United will try to sell Ivo Grbic
United will reportedly attempt to recover their costs after determining that the Croatian is not the right goalie, according to The Star.
In the winter transfer window, they reached an agreement with Atlético to pay £2.5 million for the former backup to Jan Oblak. However, following his miserable tenure at Bramall Lane, which resulted in Wes Foderingham returning to goal after being benched for
The shot-stopper wasn’t even included in Wilder’s squad for the final game of the season.
Sheffield will have a severely short goalie shortage when Foderingham’s contract with the Blades expires at the end of June.
The United manager emphasised that, prior to signing the player, he and his group had performed their “due diligence,” according to the Star.
“We studied him for our homework. We all discussed it at the time, including the supporters,” remarked Wilder.
“We required competition, strength, and other attributes in that area. We investigated it thoroughly; it’s just a shame that it hasn’t disappeared as well as we would have all preferred.”
It’s hardly likely that Grbic will be the only summertime departure. It is rumoured that Anis Slimane, Benie Traore, and Ismaila Coulibaly are all facing elimination.
Two of their players, Anel Ahmedhodzic and Vini Souza, are expected to be sought after by other teams, and according to journalist Alan Nixon, they will also be made available.
The top player for Sunderland, Anthony Patterson, is a player for whom United is anticipated to make moves in the summer. Nixon thinks they’ll make an offer of £8 million for the academy graduate of the Black Cats.
Sheffield United needs to start over from scratch.
It is difficult to look at the state of play at Brammal Lane and say, “Yeah, a few tweaks and additions should be enough,” following such a disastrous season.
After selling Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge, it was already terrible enough that their fate felt predetermined before a ball was ever kicked. Now, they must laboriously turn this team’s fortunes around, and they cannot do it by going down the same route.
Although it didn’t work out well for them this season, clubs like Burnley have used relegation as an opportunity to start over and change the direction of their teams. All three of the Premier League’s demoted teams from the 22–23 season accomplished the same, and two of the three will immediately return to the top.
The Blades have to be looking to go this route.
Leave a Reply