SHEFFIELD United manager Ruben Selles has stressed that money from the sales of senior duo Anel Ahmedhodzic and Kieffer Moore will be ploughed back into squad reinvestment – but not all of it.

Ahmedhodzic, in the final year of his Bramall Lane deal, completed a £7m move to Feyenoord earlier this week, with the Dutch giants – who had previously been keen on Middlesbrough's Rav van den Berg – electing to focus their attentions on the Bosnia and Herzegovina international and brokering a deal in double-quick time. Experienced striker Moore also sealed his £2m switch to Wrexham.

The departure of Ahmedhodzic leaves United particularly light in terms of senior centre-back options.

Atalanta defender Ben Godfrey – who hails from York – Hull City's Charlie Hughes and Malmo's Nils Zatterstrom have all been linked with the Blades, with Selles confirming that the trio are on his radar.

Anel Ahmedhodzic has left Sheffield United after three years at Bramall Lane.

placeholder image — Anel Ahmedhodzic has left Sheffield United after three years at Bramall Lane.

He said: “We have been told we can invest part of that money and that's where we are looking now, it's how you spend the money.

“We are not replacing player by player, we need players that are exciting because of how they play football and that is not easy.

“But from the board to the CEO, we have that agreement about investing part of that money.”

On the departures, Selles – who has also allowed keeper Ivo Grbić to join Turkish top flight side Fatih Karagümrük on a season-long loan – continued: “Football is football and those things happen, it's not the first time.

New Sheffield United manager Ruben Selles. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

“Kieffer was a bit longer in time, so we were prepared for that, the situation with Anel was completely different. They needed a centre-back pretty quick and in 24 hours it was done.

“He made it clear it was his last year here with us and we have to look forward to the weekend and reinforce, especially in the centre-half position, with the best player we can get.”

The departure of particularly Ahmedhodzic has heightened the importance of United not losing any more of their leading players from last season amid fears that any more exits of leading stars – following the earlier transfer of Vini Souza – would significantly damage the club's promotion prospects after going so close in 2025-26.

The major concerns, certainly among supporters, surround key duo Gus Hamer and Michael Cooper, with speculation over their futures likely to persist until the closure of the summer window. Selles said: “Hopefully they stay with us and that is our intention.

“The situation is different than Anel Ahmedhodzic with the names mentioned. I never say never because I know how it works, but our intention is to keep everyone in the squad and have a good season with them.”

Jack Robinson is fit for Saturday's tea-time Championship opener against Bristol City.

The Blades chief, pictured, commented: “It has been a summer with little ups and downs in pre-season, but the squad is almost fit. Jack Robinson is back training with us, so he can be ready for the game.”

Ollie Arblaster, Tom Davies and Jamie Shackleton are all out.