Sheffield United decide to cash in on Kilgallon - and Leeds United also benefit

Kilgallon travelled north for a medical yesterday afternoon and his exit leaves a major hole to fill in the Blades' defence.

Former Doncaster Rovers defender Matthew Mills, who was sold to Reading for 2m five months ago, is high on Blackwell's wanted list but there are only 10 days remaining before the transfer window closes.

Uncertainty over Kilgallon's future had continued for several months after it was revealed that the former Leeds United defender had rejected the offer to sign a new deal at Bramall Lane.

Newcastle United and Burnley both submitted 1.5m bids for the 26-year-old while Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers also made enquiries.

Kilgallon was prepared to stay with the Blades until his contract expired next summer but, due to financial pressures, the Blades have opted to cash in now rather than run the risk of losing him on a free transfer.

Blackwell said: "As a manager, you always worry whether a player who has got six months left on his contract will give you all that he has got. There has been significant interest in Matthew and the kid had to make a decision.

"Yes, the club could have said 'you're definitely not going anywhere' but do you keep a player who is unhappy at a club for six months? That was the dilemma."

Although Blackwell recently signed Dutch centre-back Marcel Seip on loan from Plymouth Argyle, the Blades manager expects funds from Kilgallon's sale to be made available for further strengthening.

"We have been looking around and trying to unearth a centreback that is worthy of coming to the club," he admitted. "Over the last seven or eight years, we have always been pushing for promotion or in the Premier League and it is proving difficult to get the quality of centre-half that we need.

"There is a dearth of centreback talent at the moment and that is why four Premier League clubs all enquired about Kilgallon."

Mills, 23, may be allowed to leave Reading who are struggling at the wrong end of the Championship table and under growing pressure to make financial cuts.

He would fit the bill as a ready-made replacement for Kilgallon with his cultured style of play,

Kilgallon, 26, is a former England Under-21 international rated as one of the best centre-backs outside the top flight.

The York-born defender played 95 times for Leeds before joining the Blades for 1.75m three years ago.

Under the terms of that deal, Leeds are entitled to 20 per cent of any sell-on fee of 1m or more which means the Elland Road club stand to bag 400,000.

United chief executive Trevor Birch said: "Given that Mathew could have walked away for nothing at the end of the season we were always going to be under some pressure if a sensible bid was received."

He is ineligible for Sunderland's FA Cup tie at Portsmouth tomorrow.