Blades turn down Fulham’s £500,000 bid for young striker Slew

The Blades want £3m for the talented young striker who is also attracting interest from Scottish Cup holders Celtic.

Slew, 18, burst onto the scene during the final stages of the club’s unsuccessful battle against relegation to League One and also played twice for the England Under-19 side.

Fulham manager Mark Hughes is ready to take the Sheffield-born striker to the Premier League but is unlikely to pay more than £1m for his services.

Slew bagged two goals in seven first-team starts for the Blades and also found the net against Manchester United in this month’s FA Youth Cup final. His current deal is due to expire at the end of next season.

Blades manager Danny Wilson, now four days into his new job, is fully aware that players have to be sold this summer to balance the books at Bramall Lane.

The Blades may also have to sacrifice teenage centre-back Harry Maguire while high-earners, including strikers Ched Evans and Darius Henderson, will be allowed to move on.

“We have to cut our cloth accordingly and you cannot carry all your debts over to this league,” Wilson admitted. “”It won’t surprise me if there are people who leave because the wage bill as it stands is too high.

“It would be foolish to say no one will be going because it is likely to happen,” he added. “There is nothing hidden. Depending who it is, and what the price is, we will sit down and discuss it at board level.”

Although chairman McCabe has vowed to reduce a wage bill which, at nearly £12m, stood among the biggest outside the Premier League last season, he also says it is impossible to quantify the extent of any reduction at this stage.

“It really depends who is transferred and I can’t predict that,” McCabe said. “I would like to get the wage bill down to x but I have to wait and see what happens.

“The game has changed and recession has set in. There will be less clubs offering to buy or take our players than was the case last year or the year prior. There is no guarantee that any will go,” he added. “A good proportion of our players will attract interest but it’s whether the clubs can afford them.”

The Blades are expected to confirm the addition of veteran coach Frank Barlow to Wilson’s new backroom team before the end of the week. Barlow, 64, worked with Wilson previously at Sheffield Wednesday and Bristol City and made over 100 appearances for the Blades as a player in the late Sixties and early Seventies.

There is no word yet on the future of former Blades manager Dave Bassett who returned to Bramall Lane as a football adviser last season.

In another cost-cutting measure, Richard Batho has replaced long-time media manager Andy Pack just four months after being appointed Supporters’ Communications Manager.

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