A recent exclusive report from TEAMtalk reveals that several Premier League and Serie A teams are eyeing Sheffield United star midfielder Gustavo Hamer, who reportedly has a release clause in his current contract.
The Dutch player signed a four-year contract with Sheffield United a year ago, after being acquired from Coventry City for about £15 million. During his first season in the Premier League, Hamer scored four goals and made six assists, despite Sheffield United having a tough season.
Even though Hamer was part of the worst team in the English top flight last season, Hamer statistically had a very good debut Premier League campaign. When comparing Hamer to midfielders in Europe’s big five leagues and UEFA Champions League and Europa League competitions, Hamer ranks quite highly in several attacking metrics, per FBref.
Gustavo Hamer registered excellent attack stats in his debut Sheffield United season
For non-penalty goals Hamer ranked in the 75th percentile last season. He also ranked in the 81st percentile for total shots. Hamer performed very well in several creative metrics: ranking in the 84th percentile for assists, 94th percentile for key passes and 85th for shot-creating actions.
As well as excelling in his attacking contribution, he showed excellent work rate off the ball. Sky Sports statistics showed that in September, Hamer was achieving an impressive 11.44 sprinting pressures per 90 minutes in the Premier League. Sprinting pressure is defined as a player closing down an opponent while maintaining a speed of 25 km/h or more.
Additionally, Hamer was ranked 5th in the Premier League at that time for his average speed when pressing, covering an average of 5.76 meters per second. This highlights his exceptional athletic ability and relentless effort in putting pressure on his opponents.
Hamer’s contributions would be irreplaceable at Championship level
It would be a huge blow if Sheffield United were to lose Gustavo Hamer just a year after signing him. Many supporters believe the Blades’ best chance of a bounce back promotion would be to keep Oli Arblaster and Hamer at the club given how much their midfield improved with these two in it at the back end of last season.
In his last two Championship seasons Hamer has racked up 12 goals and 20 assists, showing just how good he is in the English second tier.
United just recently confirmed the marquee signing of free agent Callum O’Hare, who hopes to be playing alongside his former Coventry City teammate Hamer. During O’Hare’s final full campaign alongside Hamer (O’Hare missed most of the 2022/23 season due to a severe injury), the pair conjured up 25 Championship goal contributions out of Coventry’s 60 goals that term.
If Sheffield United can keep Arblaster and Hamer to feed the more advanced O’Hare and Kieffer Moore then they could be in for a very good season. And that’s with a few more additions on the way as well.