Sheffield United must rue selling flop who’s outperforming Hamer & Brereton

Unlike a transfer-shy Leeds United who occupy top spot in the Championship standings, Sheffield United showed that they mean business this transfer window with a whole host of new additions entering the building.

Chris Wilder will hope the mammoth seven new additions that arrived through the door during the frantic window can help his team push the Whites all the way to the second-tier title, with an instant return to the Premier League the obvious goal for the South Yorkshire outfit come the end of the gruelling campaign.

He will already like what he saw from fresh recruit Ben Brereton Diaz last time out against Derby County, as the Chilean reopened his account for the club in the tight contest at Pride Park.

Brereton Diaz’s return to United

Of course, whilst Brereton Diaz is a new signing per se, he has called Bramall Lane home before during a previous stint in the Premier League.

The ex-Blackburn Rovers man ended up being a much-needed bright spark during the Blades’ woes in the top-flight last campaign, with an impressive goal haul of six strikes from 14 games, all whilst his loan team finished rock bottom of the division.

He will hope he can be equally as impactful this time around, but with the end-goal of the South Yorkshire outfit rising back up to the Premier League secured, with this simple tap-in gifting his side a 1-0 win away at the Rams.

Wilder won’t just rely on the goalscoring heroics of the 25-year-old, however, to give his high-flying team a fighting chance at an instant promotion, with Gustavo Hamer another standout individual that is capable of taking the Championship by storm at the peak of his powers.

Indeed, the ex-Coventry man has a sterling 11 goal contributions next to his name this season from 27 league games, but has unfortunately battled with some worrying injury concerns to find himself out of Wilder’s XI from time to time.

Whilst Wilder will still be pleased with what he has at his disposal – especially after a jam-packed window – there is one former Blades flop that is starring away from South Yorkshire that might fill the 57-year-old with some feelings of regret.

The United flop now outperforming Brereton & Hamer

The forgotten United face in question here is Benie Traore, who was chucked into the deep end of the English game when signing for the relegation-doomed side in 2023.

The unknown Ivorian would relocate to the Premier League strugglers off the back of a promising spell in Sweden with BK Häcken where Traore would twist and turn Allsvenskan defences for fun, leading to the 22-year-old winger picking up 25 goals and nine assists from 58 total contests.

Unfortunately for Häcken’s “jewel” – as he was once labelled by football talent scout Jacek Kulig – he would never settle into his new English surroundings, despite displaying flashes of excellence such as this sublime solo strike in the U21 ranks.

From nine largely unmemorable senior appearances for the Blades, Traore would fail to pick up a single goal or assist, before then being offloaded last summer by Wilder to FC Basel.

Traore’s Swiss Super League numbers (24/25)
Stat – per 90 mins*	Traore
Games played	19
Goals scored	6
Assists	5
Shots*	2.1
Key passes*	1.3
Big chances missed	4
Big chances created	7
Total duels won*	5.1
Stats by Sofascore

He has since managed to shrug off the tag of being a failed experiment in Yorkshire though, with a stunning 11 goal contributions managed in league action for Basel seeing him match Hamer’s glittering Championship numbers.

Taking into account his further two assists in Cup action and the one-time Blades flop is actually bettering Hamer’s output, alongside also blowing Brereton Diaz’s numbers out of the water, who only has a solitary strike for both United and the Saints this season.

Whilst there will be a bad taste in the mouth now over how Traore’s time at the club ended, sometimes players just suit certain clubs over others, with the Ivorian going down as an unlucky transfer blunder.