Sheffield United transfer news: Goalkeeper stand-off appears to be nearing an end

Cooper was on Plymouth's bench for their opening game of the season, in the Steel City against Sheffield Wednesday, with his future seemingly elsewhere.

But the Blades had been struggling to agree a fee for the 24-year-old.

The start of a new season and the £15m sale of Will Osula to Newcastle United appears to have sharpened the mind and topped up the transfer kitty, prompting a flurry of overdue activity, and now The Sheffield Star are reporting a price has been agreed.

The Blades were unable to keep first-choice Wes Foderingham after the Republic of Ireland international ran down his contract and joined West Ham United in the summer.

Ivo Grbic was bought in January to pre-emptively replace Foderingham, but in talking about transfer-market "mistakes", manager Chris Wilder all but admitted this had been one. In 10 appearances for the Blades, the Croatian has conceded 31 goals, though he is far from the only person to blame for that.

Former Barnsley captain Adam Davies started in the opening-night win over Preston North End, but is not seen as the long-term alternative.

With finances tight at Bramall Lane unless or until a proposed takeover is completed, the plan would be to move Grbic on once Cooper is signed up.

Cooper was, and Plymouth manager Wayne Rooney – who said his preference for Conor Hazard at Hillsborough was purely down to pre-season form – acknowledged he might not be able to stop a move if the Blades hit his club's valutation.

"For Michael it's not an easy moment, there's a lot of speculation," he said. "I need players fully motivated and committed to play.

"I really want Michael to stay but sometimes it gets taken out of the manager's hands as well."

Having loaned Harry Souttar and Alfie Gilchrist from Leicester City and Chelsea respectively last week and picked up free agent Tyrese Campbell, the Blades are close to loaning Jesurun Rak-Sakyi from Crystal Palace.

They add to a summer recruitment which has also brought in Harrison Burrows, Kieffer Moore, Callum O'Hare, Sam McCallum and Jamie Shackleton, who picked up a knee injury in pre-season. But with 12 senior players leaving after their relegation from the Premier League, the Blades remain light on numbers, especially at centre-forward.

They have until 11pm on August 30 to add to their squad, and can sign free agents after that.