January Raid To Sign Leicester City’s Leonardo Ulloa Could Prove To Be Vital For Sheffield United’s Season
It has emerged in recent hours that Sheffield United have enquired about the availability of Leicester City striker Leonardo Ulloa as boss Chris Wilder looks to strengthen his Championship side in January. Ulloa is struggling for game time at Leicester and has been resigned to even more bench time this season, something that he does not seem keen to carry on at his age.
It seems like Sheffield United, along with Aston Villa, are keen to end his lack of game time and that Ulloa sees a return to the Championship as the right move for him at this stage of his career.
Fans at Bramall Road implicitly trust Chris Wilder and the board after their transfer policies of 2016 and 2017 saw great success; all new signings coming into the club for little or no money playing their part in the club’s runaway League One title win and now impressing in the Championship, having even led the division at one stage.
As mentioned though, when naming Sheffield United as arguably the Championship’s Team of the Year so far in another article, every member of their first team squad is an English speaking player first and foremost, and that has helped their communication.
Adding a proper overseas player to the pool now could upset their balance somewhat; an action I’m not certain Chris Wilder will be very quick to do despite the rumours of Ulloa’s potential arrival. However, in the interests of balance, let’s explore why Ulloa could be an excellent signing for the Blades if each party took the plunge.
The 31-year-old Argentine striker would bring terrific experience to the club having played over 300 league games so far in his career including 85 Premier League games for former champions Leicester City.
He has scored well over 100 goals in this time and coming back to this level, he would certainly take his chances with the minimum of fuss – a goalscoring prowess Sheffield United may find it hard to turn down with a promotion playoff place to chase between now and April.
It remains to be seen whether or not Sheffield United will go for the former Almeria and Brighton man, however, if they do, it will represent a shift in their policy, though one which may yet serve them well in the second half of the season.