Former Sheffield United midfielder Don Hutchinson is backing Sheffield Wednesday fan and former academy player Jamie Vardy to make the switch to Bramall Lane this summer.
Vardy left Leicester City at the end of last season, following 13 years at the Foxes, in which time he won a Premier League title and scored 183 goals in the process.
Born in Sheffield, the striker was an Owls fan as a youngster and played in the club’s academy, before being released and going through the non-league system.
The Blades are potentially going to be without two of their best players from last season soon, with Vinicius Souza having recently joined VFL Wolfsburg and Gustavo Hamer heavily linked elsewhere.
For Hutchinson, Vardy would be the ideal replacement to fill the gap in quality and leadership left by these two.
Ideal Replacement
“Jamie Vardy is still available. He’d be perfect for the style they play and the kind of club that they are. They have a fanbase that will love a hard worker like him. Vardy will always give it everything.”
Blades fans would be forgiven for their skepticism over a move for Vardy, given his Wednesday links and the fact that he is now at the ripe age of 38, but Hutchinson was quick to dispel any myths that the striker has lost it.
“He’s not lost any of his pace. He could cut it in the Premier League last year, so the Championship won’t be beyond him. He might think that he doesn’t want to drop down yet, which would be fair enough. But for a club like Sheffield United, I think he’d be ideal. He’d still be scoring goals and showing what he can do.”
It looks set to be a transitional season for United after they narrowly missed out on promotion back to the Premier League, losing the play-off final in the last minute against Sunderland in May.
Alongside big players potentially transferring away, there has been a change in managers this summer.
Ruben Selles
They recently appointed Ruben Selles as the new boss, following Chris Wilder‘s departure after the play-off defeat.
Selles has a bit of Championship experience with Hull City, but the loss of Wilder means that the club will be without a promotion specialist for the upcoming campaign.
Wilder has overseen multiple promotions in his career and took United up to the Premier League in 2019, nearly getting European football in his first season.
Hutchinson spoke about his disappointment with the departure and warned the club about the risk of letting some of their best players go.
“I’m disappointed that Chris Wilder’s gone, to be honest. I think more importantly for Sheffield United now, it’s a case of not losing too many players. The worst thing that you can do when you go down is lose two or three of your best players.
“If that happens, then the chances of coming back are pretty slim. But I think with the parachute money, I think with the size of the club Sheffield United are, there’s no reason why they can’t come straight back up. It’s just going to need one or two signings in terms of freshening things up. But more importantly, don’t allow too many out the door.”
When asked about who in particular he believes should stay, Hutchinson said, “Gus Hamer is one who I think they need to keep hold of. You could – probably should – build a team around him. He’s a match-winner, someone who can turn the game on its head. You can’t afford to lose many players who can do that.”
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*Editorial Credit goes to BestBettingSites.com for their exclusive interview with Don Hutchinson
