Sheffield United have struggled to find a consistent left-back all season due to injury troubles. The more natural left-back’s of the squad, Rhys Norrington-Davies and Max Lowe, have both missed the most of the season.
This has led to centre-back Auston Trusty being deployed at the position and versatile midfielder Ben Osborn. Additionally, loanee Yasser Larouci has not pulled up any trees with his performances and looks completely out of his depth in the Premier League.
The Blades will likely not retain Max Lowe come the summer, and the future of Norrington-Davies is in question after unfortunate successive major injuries, leading him to make seven appearances this term after returning from a 14 month lay-off.
It is imperative that Sheffield United secure some form of left-back or left-wingback in the upcoming summer transfer window. Preferably one that you know you can rely on for 75% of the campaign at a minimum.
Sheffield United should sign Harrison Burrows this summer
Some of the best recruitment during the first tenure of Chris Wilder saw low value signings from League One and the Championship. And with a huge rebuild on his hands I wouldn’t be shocked to see a portion of the rebuild coming via this route once more.
For me, the club should be doing everything in their power to secure the signature of 22-year-old Harrison Burrows this summer.
I understand that Burrows is in the final year of his current deal at Peterborough United, but the club have an option to extend that by an extra year. Either way, Burrows would be available for a heavily discounted price.
The young left-wingback has feature at least 37 times in each of his last three league campaigns. In that time he has racked up 24 assists while adding 13 goals to his name.
He is also a player that has tasted Championship football previously, when he was a standout performer at the age of just 19 in Peterborough’s relegation season back in 2021/22.
Why the Blades should sign Harrison Burrows
His numbers are just insane, whether it is general passing, creative passing or goals and assists, he ranks in the top percentile in League One in pretty much every single category.
In terms of Assists p90, Burrows ranks in the 97th percentile for full-backs in League One. He also ranks in the 96th percentile for key passes per game, 94th for crosses per game and 99th for progressive passes per game.
Additionally, he ranks 84th in touches in the opposition penalty area, 85th in shots taken p90, and 81st in goals per game from full-back.
The Blades have not had a dependable left-wingback probably since the 2019/20 version of Enda Stevens. Now for a team that relies heavily on wingbacks for their system that is shocking that they haven’t had a player in that position they can lean on in such a long time. That’s from both a durability point of view and an actual creative force point of view.
Throughout Burrows’ young career he has demonstrated he can be that player. He would also fit into this new young dynamic of the squad. And, he is a natural leader, which is something the Blades have lacked considerably at the back this season.