After his weakened Sheffield United team lost 1-0 to Cardiff City in the FA Cup, it’s clear that Chris Wilder’s main priorities as Blades manager lie in winning promotion out of the Championship.
The South Yorkshire side won’t want to overstay their welcome in the second tier, with the recently relegated outfit masters at jumping up to the Premier League when looking at their not-so-distant past, having successfully climbed up to the promised land at the close of both the 2018/19 season and the 2022/23 campaign.
Wilder will hope that there’s a third time on the horizon very soon, with a new striker on his mind now this January to propel his team into the automatic promotion reckoning.
Sheffield United enter race for top EFL striker
As per football journalist Alan Nixon, the automatic promotion candidates have now entered the frantic race to try and pick up Tom Cannon, with there being a reported break clause in his current Stoke City loan deal.
With Mark Robins’ men also recalling striker Nathan Lowe from his own loan stint at Walsall, it could be that the Potters will have to give up the potent 22-year-old at some point this window, as the likes of Sunderland also sniff around alongside the Blades.
What Tom Cannon could offer Sheffield United
The ex-Preston North End man being linked with a switch to Bramall Lane could mean that Wilder’s men are considering alternatives to Ben Brereton-Diaz. The Chile international has been linked with a move back to his former employers but Cannon would arguably be an upgrade on the misfiring forward.
Indeed, signing Cannon at the expense of the Black Cats could also give the Blades that cutting edge in any promotion race to follow, with his potential United teammates licking their lips at the prospect of linking up with such a clinical marksman.
After all, you don’t fluke the sort of goalscoring form Cannon is in for Stoke at the moment, with the Republic of Ireland international up to 11 strikes now in all competitions, which included this dramatic late winner at the very end of December.
On the contrary, whilst the 22-year-old has been setting the second tier alight, Brereton-Diaz has been seriously low on confidence playing in the league above with Southampton, having made just four starts for his lowly employers in the Premier League.
He hasn’t even broken his Saints duck, with the bumper £7m splashed out by the South Coast side last year looking to be a big waste of money now.
There’s no guarantee that Brereton-Diaz will be able to kick back into gear again when making the drop down a level too, even if he has previously notched up a hefty 53 goals at the level.
Whereas, in Cannon, you have an attacker who is the flavour of the month and is continuing to play at the peak of his powers, having been labelled as an “insane” finisher by journalist Pete Smith earlier in the campaign when amazingly firing home four goals in one clash for the Potters.
He could well take his game to another level at the Blades by playing alongside Callum O’Hare, who has seamlessly fit into his new environment this season in Sheffield as a creative menace after waving goodbye to Coventry City.
24/25
26
2
5
23/24
31
6
3
22/23
11
0
3
21/22
45
5
8
20/21
46
3
8
In total, the enigmatic attacking midfielder has tallied up 16 goals and 28 assists playing in the second tier to date, with Cannon’s numbers in front of goals perhaps bumped up playing alongside exceptional talents like O’Hare week in, week out.
Whilst the Blades do already have Kieffer Moore and Tyrese Campbell up top to call upon, Cannon would be able to give the promotion hopefuls something fresh and exciting and could well prove to be the difference maker that fires them back up to the top flight.
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