Blades will enjoy dual benefit from Prince Abdullah’s arrival

Sheffield United manager David Weir will delve into the loan transfer market next week after the arrival of a new 
co-owner at Bramall Lane.

Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud’s decision to buy a 50 per cent stake in the Blades, to work alongside current owner Kevin McCabe, means Weir has been handed an increased budget to strengthen his squad.

Prince Abdullah, part of the wealthy Saudi Arabia royal family, has pledged to pour in cash to bolster the Blades’ first team as they look for promotion from League One and, eventually, a return to the Premier League.

That means money will be available to bring in players when the loan market re-opens on Tuesday, and permanent deals in the January transfer window.

Until now, Weir has had to wheel and deal in the transfer market, relying on drafting through lads from the Academy.

While United remain rightly proud of their Shirecliffe Road set-up, the Blades accept they must add experience and quality if they are to get out of League One.

“In simple terms, we had a Plan A with ourselves remaining as sole owners of Sheffield United Football Club, which was a plan to achieve, hopefully, promotion this season,” said Blades director Scott McCabe.

“Going into partnership with the Prince now puts us slightly on a different page, but bearing in mind that we want to be a sensible, sustainable football club and adhere to new legislations.

“Now we are able to look at a different type and calibre of player that we will be recruiting.

“We have got a wage bill that’s a good level for this division, but you also have to remember our turnover is significantly higher than other clubs in League One – other than maybe one or two, such as Wolverhampton Wanderers – so naturally our wage bill will always be a bit higher than our competitors in League One.”

The Blades, though, will be limited on splashing millions of pounds as they still have to adhere to the Salary Cost Management Protocol (SCMP) guidelines on how much they can spend on the team.

But it does mean United are under no pressure to sell any of their prized assetts, such as England Under-21 duo George Long and Harry Maguire.

McCabe revealed while United did acknowledge interest from rival clubs for their star players, no bids were received before the summer transfer window closed at 11pm on Monday.

“We are not under pressure to sell any of our players and this deal strengthens that even more now,” he said. “The George Longs and the Harry Maguires, you can take a more aggressive stance if other clubs are interested. We are not in a weak position where we need to sell. There’s always interest (from other clubs) in good young footballers, but there were no offers made for those players (Long and Maguire).”

One player United failed to keep was midfielder Kevin McDonald, who left for Wolves last month.

McCabe does not believe the new investment at the Lane would have made any difference to McDonald’s decision to leave.

“In the case of Kevin McDonald, he had a clause in his contract that if a club offered over £250,000, the player had the right to talk to the club that had made the offer,” said McCabe.

“Wolverhampton Wanderers literally offered a pound over that number, and subsequently he spoke to them.

“We went back with what he thought was a very attractive offer for Kevin, but he decided to run with Wolverhampton and depart, unfortunately. I don’t think this (new investment) would have changed that outcome at all.”

United scraped through on penalties against Scunthorpe in midweek in the JP Trophy and Weir is happy with the Blades’ progress.

“We need to get the balance right offensively and as we all know that is the area of the team that gets the most focus. The players have been a credit to themselves in terms of adapting to how I want the team to play.”