Keep, sell, loan: What should happen to Sheffield United youngster Will Osula this summer?

When you hear Sheffield United supporters talking about Will Osula, there is a massive divide in opinion. Some supporters believe he has a bright future ahead of him, while others believe he will never make it. And I think, personally, that’s what makes modern football so dangerous now: the fact that a young player, at the age of 20, can be written off by thousands of fans. Where has common sense gone?

Osula has been on the list of emerging talents in English football for the past two or three years. The Danish-born striker has been smashing goals left, right and center in the Professional Development League games for United, which has finally led to him getting some minutes in the 2021/22 Championship season.

Then, after starting the U21 2022/23 campaign with three goals in two games, the striker was sent on his first loan move to the EFL. Osula would go on to play 21 times in all competitions for Derby County, scoring five goals in the process. Unfortunately, in his last game for the Rams, he was shown a red card which left a sour taste in his loan spell.

But that didn’t shake his confidence when he returned to Sheffield United, where he scored three goals in the U21s’ next two games before earning first-team minutes again before the end of the season.

Due to a mixture of poor training/transfer policy and injury problems, the Blades have been forced to start Osula in their first Premier League games of the last term and although he has worked hard to chase lost causes, he has not was never able to do anything due to the lack of quality in the Blades XI at the time.

The 20-year-old made a total of nine top-flight starts last season, which suggests to me just how unprepared the squad was. And I personally think that this lack of squad depth and poor transfer business from the board has robbed Osula of a loan spell in the Championship.

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – MARCH 04: Will Osula of Sheffield United shoots on goal during the Premier League match between Sheffield United and Arsenal FC at Bramall Lane on March 04, 2024 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

What does next season look like for promising Sheffield United striker Will Osula?

One of the Sheff United Way co-hosts, Oli, recently expressed his thoughts on Will Osula’s immediate future at the club.

“He needs development. His physical development came long before his technical development. He needs to work on his finishing. He needs to work on his composure. He needs to work on making decisions.

“Despite the squad issues (lack of current attacking depth), I still think a loan is best for Will Osula. I think we need to get him somewhere to build that confidence, to give him a real opportunity to shine without the bright lights of a championship playoff caliber team.

“He needs a place where he is not stressed and can play his football and develop as a first-choice striker in a team that will create chances.”

A loan move is 100% necessary for Osula. I think the club robbed Osula of a solid development campaign last season due to a lack of strategy in the summer transfer window. As a result, he was forced to start Premier League games early in a team that was not ready at all.

He has to go somewhere to develop a lot of situational things and his composure because for me you can see a definite difference in him from youth level to senior level. He steals more of his chances at the top level – it’s almost as if he’s too eager to impress, but this eagerness completely destroys his poise and accuracy.