BREWSTER’S MILLIONS
Blades owner rips into ex-boss Wilder on transfers and says he was reason they paid £23m for struggling striker
CHRIS WILDER has been accused of costing Sheffield United £23.5million by talking up misfit striker Rhian Brewster.
The Blades splashed out a club record fee to sign Brewster from Liverpool in October in the hope of firing them to safety.
But England Under-21 frontman (above) has failed to score a single goal in 23 games in what has proved a nightmare bit of business.
And owner Prince Abdullah has laid the blame at the door of Wilder by claiming the ex-Sheffield United boss wrecked the club’s chances of just landing Brewster on loan.
The Saudi prince (right with Wilder) said he and chief executive Stephen Bettis wanted to persuade Liverpool to agree to a loan with a view to a permanent transfer this summer if they had stayed up. He reckons Wilder undermined their position by speaking publicly about how much he liked Brewster and by refusing to consider any alternatives.
Prince Abdullah added that Wilder was just as resolute over Aaron Ramsdale’s £18.5m signing from Bournemouth and would not consider any other goalkeeping targets.
“We have invested a lot in the club, but we don’t have unlimited resources, so if we invest £120m, you better get £120m value,” he said.
“I told Chris I will not accept in the future that if you want a player, for example Ramsdale (right), to come to me with one option because that put us in a weak position.
“The other club will know you only have one option.
“It also didn’t help that, with Brewster, Chris talked about him before we even signed him. I thought and Stephen thought we maybe could have got him on loan and if we had stayed in the Premier League, we would be obliged to buy him.
“I wanted him to give me four or five targets and give me room to negotiate with the other clubs. I needed recruitment to change and for Chris to be more openminded. It can’t be ‘my way or the highway’ every time, only this player or nobody else. We need to have more options to put us in a better negotiating position.”
Wilder is thought to have felt undermined when the club did not sign anyone in January to help their relegation fight, but Prince Abdullah claims the former Blades boss was to blame.
Wilder tried to quit a second time at the start of January, and Prince Abdullah felt it was hard to sign players when he was unsure if his coach would continue.
“There are three reasons why we didn’t make any signings,” he added. “Number one, I think Chris resigned on the second or third of January so how could I spent £2m-£3m extra when I’m not sure the coach will be here in three or four weeks?
“Two, we played six games and we got one point out of 18. So I had to think do we really have a good chance of staying in the Premier League because any money you spend now, it’s gone if you get relegated.
“Thirdly, we were talking about forwards, but when Sander Berge got injured, Chris changed the players he wanted central midfielders, defensive midfielders and I thought we have enough of those already.”
Prince Abdullah also claimed Wilder continually blamed the players for their miserable Premier League form when he should have accepted responsibility.
He added: “I’m OK with Chris taking all the credit when we win, but at least take some responsibility when we lose.”