Why Sheffield United are better equipped for Premier League task this time - Alan Biggs

THREE. Let that sink in. Compared to … well, how many were we talking about in exactly those terms the last time United were pushing for the Championship’s top two in 2019? Were there any?

Whatever the uncertainties off the field, it’s one heck of a head start. And another reason why the current protracted takeover interest would not be isolated if it fails, as seems more likely with every week of delay.

Let’s dare risk another assumption. That the three men in question, Iliman Ndiaye, Anel Ahmedhodzic and Sander Berge would need little persuasion to stay at a Premier League Bramall Lane.

Always assuming, that is, the club sorts itself out at the top.

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So it would be heartbreaking at this stage for anything, on or off the field, to get in the way of all that.

The fact is that, in playing terms, the Blades stand to be far better equipped for the top flight than when they were last promoted four years ago. And that Chris Wilder team, let’s remember, finished an astonishing ninth in the Premier League.

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Not suggesting that extraordinary effort can be matched, even with superior individual quality in several positions. It was the product of a special spirit and togetherness in a group that had come up two divisions and which, to a great extent, still remains.

The relegation that followed a season later was the result of United not recruiting a smattering of established Premier League quality, much as they invested alternatively in rising talent. And here’s where they could have much more of an edge next time. Or this time, as everyone hopes.

Last time United relied on solid teamwork, a way of playing that technically superior teams struggled to counter, inspired defending and largely team goals. That flash of individuality that makes so much difference in a split second could not be relied on, for obvious reasons.

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If manager Paul Heckingbottom can keep body and soul together, no easy task in the current climate, then he and the club would have a real chance of making promotion stick. And let’s not forget those who have been there and done it before, the Egans, Bashams, Baldocks, Norwoods and Flecks. Or any other member of the core group that has carried the club so far, a 37-year-old Billy Sharp included.

But that bit of stardust is crucial. Unusually for a Championship outfit, United currently have FIVE in that bracket.

You’d assume, of course, that Tommy Doyle and James McAtee will return to be integrated at Manchester City whatever. But the Blades really do have something a bit special going for them if they can just clear the wide open pathway to promotion.