Sheffield United's Premier League-bound boss sets the promotion record straight

The South Yorkshire club secured its Premier League status for next season after beating West Bromwich Albion last night, with goals from Sander Berge and Anel Ahmedhodzic seeing them establish an unassailable lead over third placed Luton Town.

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Although several of his rivals have cited the presence of expensive acquisitions such as Sander Berge and Oli McBurnie within his squad as a factor behind United’s climb into the top-flight, Heckingbottom reframed the analysis of their performances since August by drawing attention to the fact he made only two permanent signings last summer after the board of directors reduced Bramall Lane’s recruitment budget. One of those, goalkeeper Adam Davies, joined on a free.

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“If it was about money, well, we’d be getting worse every year,” he told The Star. “But I actually think we’ve been able to make the squad better through good recruitment. I get why some managers mention things like this, because they want to try and take the pressure off. And it’s a narrative that people believe, but it’s irrelevant.”

“We’ve had plenty of things to deal with but we’ve just got on with it,” he added. “We’ve not come out with excuses when things haven’t gone our way, which we could have done, because I don’t think that’s the right way to behave. The proof is in how the lads have done.

“I expected us to be up there, Not because of what we’ve got or what we have or haven’t spent. But because we’ve got really good people here who are prepared to work damn hard.”

Heckingbottom has paid only one actual transfer fee after being appointed in November 2021, with the overwhelming majority of United’s transactions since then being brokered in the loan market.

“I wouldn’t swap any of my players for anyone else,” he said, having also helped United reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup. “The work ethic has been more important than setting the record straight or anything like that because, and I mean this with all due respect, lots of people just don’t know what we’ve had to do.”

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