Chris Wilder has broken his silence on the news of Leeds United’s bid for Sheffield United midfielder Gustavo Hamer.
Hamer was in action for the first time since Leeds‘ offer became public knowledge as he came off the bench in the Blades’ 1-0 Carabao Cup defeat at Barnsley.
Leeds are said to have made an offer in the region of £13 million for the former Coventry City star, which was quickly laughed off by their Yorkshire rivals.
Reports from Netherlands have suggested Hamer has actually agreed personal terms with Leeds ahead of a proposed move but the Whites are yet to bid again.
Sheffield United have told Leeds to increase their offer by at least £5 million, but at this stage, it feels unlikely they will return.
Wilder responds to Leeds’ Hamer bid
Wilder was speaking post-match at Oakwell and it would be fair to say he wasn’t overly happy about the way Leeds have gone about trying to sign his best player.
Leeds have already signed Jayden Bogle from the Blades this summer and their strategy to secure that signing also left Wilder pretty riled up.
It was a pretty difficult evening for Wilder on the whole as another one of his players Anis Slimane was also the subject of a bid pre-match from Norwich City, and so he decided to pull himself from the squad.
But it was the Hamer bid he really discussed in detail and he told BBC Radio Sheffield that he does not know whether Leeds will return, before criticising their strategy.
He said: “I thought Gus Hamer was outstanding. We had a chat with Gus, obviously there’s been speculation regarding him, but he showed the energy, the urgency that I’m after and he lit the game up.
“He picked the ball up, he drove, he had about 3 shots in 10 minutes – we have to get that urgency in to the play. He risked and showed what a good player he is. I didn’t see one ounce of that speculation in his performance tonight.
“I don’t know [if they’ll make another bid]. I really don’t know what they’re thinking. Everyone knows what the bid is. They’ve brought in £120m and trying to nick our player for what the bid is. I don’t know what it was supposed to do but it hasn’t done anything and it hasn’t from Gus’ point of view.”
Leeds move onto Ao Tanaka
It certainly does feel unlikely Leeds will go again for Hamer and so the fact the bid was beneath what Sheffield United paid last summer, it is no surprise Wilder is fuming.
Instead, it appears as though Leeds have moved onto other targets with talks underway with Fortuna Dusseldorf for midfielder Ao Tanaka.
Reports have suggested Tanaka has a £2.65 million release clause in his contract at the German side and Leeds would be prepared to trigger it.
If Leeds brought him in, it would be difficult to see them going for Hamer as well with both of their best positions in the number eight.
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