A heated promotion battle is beginning to form at the top of the Championship table with Sheffield United now currently holding first position at the expense of Leeds United
As was shown last season too, the Whites are prone to slip up on the big stage, with their promotion dreams in tatters after a sobering play-off final defeat to Southampton at Wembley.
The South Yorkshire side had to lick their own wounds last summer too after relegation, with Wilder overjoyed that his team have managed to bounce back to be so close to those automatic promotion positions.
The 57-year-old will be well aware that strengthening his squad this January could prove to be make-or-break for their promotion chances, with Tom Cannon sticking out as one notable target who could fire them back up to the top flight.
Sheffield United's ongoing chase of Tom Cannon
Reports in recent days have indicated that the promotion chasers had put forward a £7m bid to try and win the sharp shooter’s services this January, only for that development to feel insignificant with Sunderland now reportedly willing to fork out almost double to try and tempt the Irishman to Wearside.
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Whoever does end up securing the former Stoke City man will be winning themselves a striker capable of steering his next side up to the Premier League, with Cannon finding the back of the net nine times in the league for Stoke before that loan spell was cut short, which is made to look more impressive considering the Potters lie all the way down in 19th spot in the Championship standings.
Whilst a lot of the conversation coming out of Bramall Lane centres on the potent 22-year-old, there will be other targets still on Wilder’s mind, including a potential new midfield addition who has worked under the passionate manager before.
Sheffield United chasing another Leicester star
As per a report by Football Insider earlier this month, Cannon isn’t the only Leicester ace the Blades want. Indeed, the South Yorkshire outfit had allegedly been in ‘advanced talks’ with the Foxes over signing reserve man Hamza Choudhury this month.
Noted as being an ideal long-term replacement for an injury-stricken Ollie Arblaster in the same report, it will be intriguing to see if a move does whir back into motion soon, with the 27-year-old excelling in the Championship previously in his career.
After all, he shone at the level under the guidance of Wilder when the pair were briefly together at Watford, with Choudhury up to 83 second-tier appearances in total away from his standout Hornets stint.
Indeed, during his time at Vicarage Road, Choudhury stuck out as a combative holding midfield option for his side, with Wilder needing more of those in his current Blades camp, considering academy product Sydie Peck has had to play here this campaign.
Games played
36
Games started
36
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Touches*
54.0
Accurate passes*
34.1 (84%)
Interceptions*
2.3
Tackles*
3.0
Total duels won*
5.1
Clean sheets
8
As can be seen when looking at the table above, the 27-year-old wouldn’t win much praise for his attacking output at Watford, but he did battle hard throughout his time at the club with 5.1 total duels won on average per league clash.
With Choudhury shoring up the Blades upon his arrival, he could well strike up an effective partnership with the more attacking Gustavo Hamer.
He is now being deployed down the left wing and by signing someone like Choudhury, it would gift the ex-Coventry City star more freedom to attack without worrying about his defensive duties.
Hamer has helped himself to six goals this season from his further forward position in the team, with the on-fire number 8 arguably wasted in a more defensive position.
That’s where the “excellent” Choudhury – as he was labelled by football journalist Josh Bunting – can come in and make a difference, as Wilder’s squad potentially grows more and more as January goes on.
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