Chris Wilder's exciting Oliver Arblaster prediction after Sheffield United recall opens Premier League door

Oliver Arblaster has been placed on standby for a dream Premier League opportunity in the second half of Sheffield United's season after boss Chris Wilder revealed that approaches from the Championship for the highly-rated 20-year-old have been turned down. Arblaster was recalled from his loan spell at Port Vale earlier this month.

Currently recovering from a nasty gash to his knee that saw him stretchered off during Vale's League Cup clash with Middlesbrough, the youngster has been earmarked as a future first-team player for some years now and has been backed to be the latest top-flight debutant for the Blades this season, following in the footsteps of youth teammates including Andre Brooks and Will Osula.

"He'll put pressure on, he's good enough," Wilder said of Arblaster, who previously spent time on loan at Bradford (Park Avenue) back in 2021. "I've had a few chats with some really good Championship managers who want to take him. Sometimes people talk about first loans not being successful but that was a really successful one, albeit in the division he was playing in.

"We've seen his pathway through the England sides and how he's affecting games at international level against players his age. I don't want to put too much pressure on him but he's going be a player and he's a Sheffield United boy.

"Is he going to play as soon as he gets fit? I would possibly say he won't but he'll certainly put huge pressure on the likes of Vini Souza and Ollie Norwood and Brooks and Tom Davies and Ben Osborn. He'll want to fight his way through that lot and get himself into the team."

A boyhood Blades fan, Arblaster is out of contract at the end of the current campaign but is in discussions with United about an extension. A former ballboy in front of the Kop, Arblaster is now an England U20 international and has previously described the experience of playing for the Blades as "a dream come true."