Sheffield United are looking to bolster their attacking options after a poor start to the Championship season. Ruben Selles’ side could try to land a deal with Crystal Palace for a familiar face.
Jesrun Rak-Sakyi is the player being lauded as a Sheffield United transfer target. According to Pete O’Rourke, many clubs are said to be in the race for the 22-year-old’s services. A deal looks to be a loan as Crystal Palace still value the youngster highly.
Known Quality is Much-Needed
The Palace winger featured heavily for a Chris Wilder side that missed out on Premier League promotion agonisingly last season. Rak-Sakyi appeared 36 times across all comeptitions for the Blades and scored seven league goals, while contributing two assists. After a fairly barren pre-season for the 22-year-old, Selles’ side are searching for the reunion.
Charlton Athletic handed Rak-Sakyi his first platform to shine, with a 49-game season seeing the Addicks receive 24 goal contributions for their faith in the winger. The Palace forward scored 15 goals during the 2022/23 season and provided nine assists – including one in their EFL Cup run.
The winger has primarily developed in the Premier League side’s academy over the past seven years – when not out on loan in the EFL. Starting his academy career at Chelsea, Brighton and Hove Albion took Rak-Sakyi on trial in 2019 but decided against a contract offer. Palace snapped him up the following year and handed 17 appearances in the under 18s set-up before Rak-Sakyi scored 19 goals in 34 matches with the under-23s.
Writer’s View
After a simply terrible start to life as Blades boss, Selles will need more profiles that fit his attack-minded approach. Rak-Sakyi can provide a different level of threat down the right-hand side than Sheffield United currently have. Tom Cannon, who was bought as an out-and-out number nine has been filling in at right-wing, while Callum O’Hare has primarily moved to the attacking midfield spot.
Rak-Sakyi has provided great numbers at Charlton and during his first spell with the Blades. Wilder was able to extract enough of a contribution out of the winger, while also helping develop his value and attributes for Palace. This seems like a no-brainer for the Blades.
