Bénie Traoré signs four-year deal

The Blades have secured the signature of 20-year-old Bénie Traoré for an undisclosed fee, the attacker has signed a four-year contract with the club.

Sportbladet initially claimed that Sheffield United have agreed a fee of £3.9m to acquire the 20-year-old. There are bonuses which could see the deal rise to £4.8m.

This is the third addition of the summer and Paul Heckingbottom’s squad is shaping up nicely during the early stages of pre-season.

The Ivorian forward started the season in excellent form racking up a tally of 15 goals in 20 appearances, per SofaScore. Having previously occupied the position of a wide forward, Traoré was moved into the central striker role for Hacken in the 22/23 campaign which has seen his natural finishing ability on full display. His performances earned him a cap for the Ivory Coast U23’s earlier this year.

This signing will provide the manager with an abundance of flexibility as United could now field a front three, two attacking midfielders with a striker, or they can stick to one attacking midfielder with two strikers.

Paul Heckingbottom spoke about his third signing of the summer to SUTV:

“Bénie is an exciting young player who works really hard and uses his pace to press out of possession as well as using it as a threat by playing on the last man.

“We see Bénie as someone who has the qualities and the ability to play at the top level.”