Sheffield United could land their next McAtee in "wonderful" PL gem

Sheffield United supporters will already be dreaming about an instant return to the Premier League, as Chris Wilder’s well-drilled Blades currently sit just outside the top two spots in the Championship.

Obviously, the hard work isn’t done yet, with a large portion of the season still remaining, but Wilder has been here before with the South Yorkshire outfit in managing to secure a dramatic promotion up to the top flight.

Even when the passionate 57-year-old hasn’t been occupying the Bramall Lane dug-out, United have tasted similar glories, with Paul Heckingbottom masterminding a promotion season of his own during the 2022/23 campaign.

Of course, United then tumbled straight back down to the second tier, but James McAtee still sticks out to this day as a positive loan signing during the memorable season prior.

McAtee’s time at Sheffield United

Now struggling on the fringes at Manchester City and vying for another move away, McAtee must have felt he had a temporary sanctuary in South Yorkshire when he called the Blades home for two years.

Indeed, his heroics during his first loan campaign at the club made him an instant fan’s favourite, picking up nine goals and three assists in league action to steer his team up to the promised land of the Premier League.

He would reaffirm his status as a beloved star by continuing to stand out even as his side finished rock bottom of the pile after promotion, with three goals and three assists tallied up, before returning to the Etihad hopeful his time would finally come for Pep Guardiola’s men.

It hasn’t worked out like that, and even as McAtee is looked at by the likes of United’s promotion rivals in Leeds United, no such homecoming deal will take place this January for him to return to the Blades for a third stint.

Instead, the promotion chasers have their eyes on another promising Premier League youngster in a similar mould to McAtee, who has already made waves in the demanding second tier himself.

Sheffield United could land the next McAtee

As per a report from the Daily Mail Online earlier this week, the Blades will hope they can strike gold with another top-flight starlet tipped for greatness in signing Lewis Koumas, who is currently out on loan at Stoke City.

Koumas has stood out as a bright spark for the Potters, even during turbulent times at the Staffordshire side that has seen a managerial dismissal take place, with the 19-year-old amassing four goals and two assists across 29 total outings.

Away from mirroring each other in terms of putting together some outrageous numbers for their respective parent clubs at youth level, Koumas will also hope he can be as impactful as the 22-year-old was at Bramall Lane back in 2022, with the aim of guiding his new loan side to promotion.

After all, when Koumas has been shoved into the deep end previously in his short senior career, he has excelled, with the teenager scoring on his senior Liverpool debut after wrongfooting the Southampton goalkeeper with this effort below, leading to then-manager Jurgen Klopp labelling his contribution as “wonderful” and Anfield giving him a standing ovation.

With Koumas also capable of playing all across the midfield positions, and even as a competent striker, he would also be a worthwhile swoop in helping to plug gaps in an injury-depleted United group, with Gustavo Hamer one major absentee in the middle.

Wilder will be confident his team can push into those automatic promotion places – regardless of those injury troubles – with any deals in through the door certainly doing no harm to their chances.

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