The former Atletico Madrid man hasn’t lived up to expectations at Bramall Lane
Just months after moving to Yorkshire, Sheffield United will allow custodian Ivo Grbic to leave the team in the summer if the right offers are made.
The Blades’ terrible Premier competition tenure came to an official end on Sunday afternoon, with a 3-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur serving as their final memory of the competition.
United has had issues all over the pitch, but they have truly been caught off guard at the back. At an average of more than 2.7 goals per game, they allowed up the most goals any Premier League team has ever given up—104—during the season.
| Sheffield United’s 23/24 league campaign stats | |
|---|---|
| Position | 20th |
| Points | 16 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Draws | 7 |
| Losses | 28 |
| Goals scored | 35 |
| Goals conceded | 104 |
| Stats taken from Sofascore | |
The uncertainty surrounding the goalkeeping position hasn’t helped these weaknesses either, as manager Chris Wilder doesn’t seem to be impressed by any of his choices.
The team apparently took a significant decision over the future of Grbic, their former custodian for Atlético Madrid, in light of this obvious weakness.
Sheffield United is attempting to offload Ivo Grbic.
United will reportedly attempt to recover their costs after determining that the Croatian is not the right goalie, according to The Star.
In the winter transfer window, they reached an agreement with Atlético to pay £2.5 million for the former backup to Jan Oblak. However, following his miserable tenure at Bramall Lane—during which Grbic was benched and Wes Foderingham returned to goal—they have decided it is best to part ways with the 28-year-old.
Not even in Wilder’s starting lineup for the season finale was the goalie.
The United manager emphasised that, prior to signing the player, he and his staff had performed their “due diligence,” according to the Star.
“We studied him for our homework. We all discussed it at the time, including the supporters,” remarked Wilder.
“We required competition, strength, and other attributes in that area. We investigated it thoroughly; it’s just a shame that it hasn’t disappeared as well as we would have all preferred.”
It’s hardly likely that Grbic will be the only summertime departure. It is rumoured that Anis Slimane, Benie Traore, and Ismaila Coulibaly are all facing elimination.
Two of their players, Vini Souza and Anel Ahmedhodzic, are probably going to be sought after by other teams, and reporter Alan Nixon has stated that they will also be made available.
The top player for Sunderland, Anthony Patterson, is a player for whom United is anticipated to make moves in the summer. Nixon thinks they’ll make an offer of £8 million for the academy graduate of the Black Cats.
Sheffield United needs to start over from scratch.
It is difficult to look at the state of play at Brammal Lane and say, “Yeah, a few tweaks and additions should be enough,” following such a disastrous season.
After selling Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge, it was already terrible enough that their fate felt predetermined before a ball was ever kicked. Now, they must laboriously turn this team’s fortunes around, and they cannot do it by going down the same route.
Clubs like Burnley, although it didn’t work out successfully for them this season, have used relegation as a chance to reset and alter the trajectory of the club. All three of the relegated clubs from the 22/23 Premier League campaign did it too, and two of the three are going to come straight back up.
This route has to be the one that the Blades look to take.
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