John Egan - 'rock-solid' and 'influential' defender commits long-term to Sheffield United

The 27-year-old Republic of Ireland defender has put pen to paper on a new four-year contract, just two years after joining the Blades for a then club record fee from Brentford.

He made 42 appearances in the season just gone, helping the Blades establish themselves as a top-half-of-the-table team in the Premier League.

Egan said: "The last two years have probably been the most successful of my career and to get the chance to sign a new contract here is brilliant for me and I'm really looking forward to the future. I need to thank everyone involved.

"I've loved my time here. We won promotion in the first year and had a real good first season back in the Premier League, so now it is about building on that and improving in the future."

Blades manager Chris Wilder said: "It's a reward for the influence John has on the team and at the football club. He's been part and parcel of our climb over the last two years and he's taken his game to the next level.

"He's a rock-solid character who produces performances week in, week out against world-class players and on the international stage I know how much he loves playing for his country and he'll take his career on to the next step there as well.