I’LL TAKE BLADES TO EUROPE, SAYS PANOS

SHEFFIELD UNITED new boy Panos Retsos claims he can complete a hat-trick and help the Blades qualify for Europe for the first time in history. Retsos has joined on loan for the rest of the season from Bayer Leverkusen with a view to a permanent move. He reached Europe with the German side and his previous club Olympiakos.

Now the Greek defender feels Chris Wilder’s men are capable of making it a treble. “Wherever I have played we went into Europe and I think with Sheffield United we can also make that happen,” said South Africanborn Retsos (above). “This is their first year back in the Premier League for many years and it is a big opportunity for the club.”

Leverkusen paid Olympiakos £15million for Retsos in 2017 when he was just 19 and he was tipped for great things before injury derailed his career with the Bundesliga side.

“Last year was bad for me with many injuries,” he said. “Now I am just looking to the future. The Premier League is the best league in the world, so I would love to stay.”

His fellow deadline-day loan signing Richairo Zivkovic loves the passion of the Blades fans after spending the last 12 months in China with Changchun Yatai.

“In China, football isn’t the main thing,” said the pacy Dutch winger, 23. “There are a lot of people, but the stadiums are not full and sometimes empty. I miss that feeling of football being everything.

“When I walk through the city, the people support Sheffield United and they recognise you. You don’t have that in China.

“As a kid I watched Match of the Day with my dad, and I see Sheffield as my long-term home, for sure.”