The Premier League defender has been on loan at Sheffield United

Sheffield United have been linked with promising Chelsea defender Alfie Gilchrist. The 20-year-old did not travel with the Chelsea squad on their pre-season tour of the USA.

According to transfer expert Ben Jacobs, the Blades are favorites to land the versatile defender, while Preston North End are another possibility. Blackburn Rovers and Leeds United inquired about Gilchrist earlier in the window, but a move to either now looks unlikely.

Gilchrist has already appeared 17 times for Chelsea in competitive matches, scoring his first goal for the Blues in a 6-0 thrashing of Everton towards the end of last season.

What makes Gilchrist a top prospect is that he can play as a centre-back as well as a right-back, which is potentially huge for a team like United. The Blades have just lost right-back Jayden Bogle to Leeds so are on the lookout for a right-back. But at the same time, they also worry that Anel Ahmedhodzic could leave this summer, Gilchrist could fill either of those roles.

If United manage to take the 20-year-old on loan, then Chris Wilder could have an option to even revert to the tried and tested 5-3-2 in certain games – with the return of overlapping centre-backs – Gilchrist would be perfect for that role with his athleticism.

In a total of 207 minutes of Premier League football, Gilchrist managed to score the first goal of his career and create three shots, for a young defender that is quite impressive.

Sheffield United submit a contract offer to Oli McBurnie

In other news, The Star have revealed that the Blades have submitted a contract offer for Oli McBurnie just over two weeks before the start of the Championship season. McBurnie trained with the club this summer despite being out of contract at the start of July.

United did not delay for the Scottish striker and managed to sign his potential replacement in former AFC Bournemouth striker Kieffer Moore. Moore played his first pre-season game with the Blades last Saturday as Wilder’s side hammered League Two side Chesterfield three goals to nil.

Blades close to announcing Harrison Burrows

It’s shaping up to be a busy week for Sheffield United with Peterborough United left-back Harrison Burrows set to be announced in the next day or two in a deal worth around £3million.

Ideally, they would like to get the nod over the line for the visit of Harrogate Town on Tuesday night; Burrows, despite training with Peterborough in pre-season, is yet to get minutes due to his potential move away from the Posh.