Sheffield United chief executive Stephen Bettis has warned there will have to be a "sizeable" cut in the wage bill if the Blades miss out on promotion this season.

The Championship play-offs are still a possibility, but six points and nine places away, a fading one.

Unless they win promotion, next season will be their first in the Championship without parachute money since 2018-19, forcing sales.

"If we don't get promoted, it'll be the first time in eight years that we are really a Championship club," argued Bettis. "We've either been in the Premier League or a Championship club with parachute payments.

Sheffield United Chief executive Stephen Bettis (Image: Andrew Yates / Sportimage)

placeholder image — Sheffield United Chief executive Stephen Bettis (Image: Andrew Yates / Sportimage)

"On top of that the Premier League have already embraced a new kind of FFP (financial fair play) called SCR, squad cost ratio.

"The EFL is going the same way.

"This is not about how big a cheque the owners can write because clubs are restricted in terms of the investment they can make."

In an exclusive interview, Bettis told The Yorkshire Post the Blades rejected "significant sums of money" for three academy-reared players – Oliver Arblaster, Sydie Peck, Andre Brooks and Femi Seriki are first-team regulars – in the last transfer window, plus another who was loaned out instead. They may not be able to do so in the summer.

RETAINED: Sheffield United kept key players such as Andre Brooks and Sydie Peck in the mid-season transfer window but that could be harder next season (Image: Harriet Massey/Getty Images)

"We won't be selling players to bring in cash (but) we may have to sell players to reduce the wage bill to meet the requirements," he said.

The Blades were due to get 55 per cent of their 2023-24 broadcast revenue – around £107.9m – last season, and 45 per cent this. They "forward-funded" some of this season's parachute payments in 2024-25 in an attempt to bounce straight back to the Premier League, only to lose to Sunderland in the play-off final.

Bettis would not say how much revenue will drop by, but admitted: "It's a sizable sum and there will need to be adjustments. We need to make sure we're getting the best out of every penny we spend and embrace our academy players. We've got a proven track record of that.

"In the last seven or eight years, we've never had to worry about breaching those rules.

"We've never been the highest payers in the Championship and we're always one of the lowest in the Premier League but still, there will need to be an adjustment for us."