Sheffield United 'all-time great' can be a top television pundit too, says Chris Wilder

Basham left Bramall Lane in the summer after 10 years in which he was at the heart of Wilder's innovative approach as an overlapping centre-back. He has not played since breaking his leg at Fulham in October.

"I've not made it public but I don't think I'll be able to carry on playing elite football," he said on Sky Sports at the weekend. "It's a bit too far for me now at my tender age of 36."

It was not his first appearance as a pundit and Wilder, no stranger to television studios himself, was impressed.

"I didn't know he had that in him," he said. "He looked good and sounded good. I even texted him while he was on air just to try and ruffle him up a bit.

"Whatever he wants to do, I'm sure he'll be a success. If he wants to go down the coaching route he's got the personality

"And from what I saw of him on Sunday, with Jamie O'Hara on Sky Sports in the studio, I thought it was effortless. He was a natural. So if he wants to go down that road, I'm sure he'll be a success."

And Wilder was rightly keen to remind everyone of the success Basham made of playing too, not that fans of the club the pair helped take from League One to the Premier League need reminding.

"What he's done for Sheffield United has been amazing," said Wilder, who inherited the then-midfielder when he first became Blades manager in 2016. "He was part of a great period and one of the main actors in there.

"It's come to an end and in a way that no-one would have ever wanted. The way he talked when I first came back, his attitude to it all was if it was going to happen he'd rather it happened now than when I was 19, 20 or 21.

"I've got to say, he's up there with my favourite players of all time to play for this football club.

"Listen, it's us. We're not Man City or Liverpool or Barcelona or Real Madrid but he'll go down, for me, through watching him and managing him as one of the all-timers for me."