Sheffield United hopeful family link can help land star scouted by Barcelona

Stoke City's Sam Surridge is tackled by Fleetwood Towns Jay Matete and James Hill during the Carabao Cup first round match

Sheffield United believe they can take advantage of family links as they target highly-rated Fleetwood Town star James Hill.

Hill, 19, has attracted interest from numerous clubs with his impressive performances inside League One. The youngster has been watched by scouts from Spanish giants Barcelona as well as Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham. However, the Blades are hopeful father Matt Hill can help persuade his son to join the South Yorkshire club.

Matt Hill spent two enjoyable years towards the end of his playing career at Bramall Lane.

Paul Heckingbottom is also hopeful the promise of regular first-team football can be a persuasive factor in the move.

And despite interest coming from bigger clubs, Sheffield United have still included the teenager in their list of January targets.

However, the Blades will have to act quickly if they want to stand a chance of competing for Hill’s signature.

TEAMtalk exclusively revealed Southampton are currently leading the race, with Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side expected to make their first bid soon.

Hill has been capped three times by England Under-20 already in his career, and is widely regarded as one of the stand-out prospects within the Football League.

Having made his professional debut at 16, the winger now has over 50 appearances for the Cod Army.

Birmingham City and Stoke City are also believed to be monitoring the situation.

Former Blades star reveals why he left club

Arsenal ‘keeper Aaron Ramsdale has revealed the moment he decided to move on from Sheffield United.

Speaking on Ben Foster’s Youtube channel, TheCyclingGK, Ramsdale explained how a contract dispute played a factor in his move.

He also claimed a member of the club questioned his early performances for Sheffield United.

He said: “Normally if you don’t get a move you are rewarded with a new contract – it’s not set in stone but it’s normal, you saw it at Brentford with Ollie Watkins when he didn’t move – so we said that.

“And someone at the football club, I won’t name names, said: ‘We didn’t ask him to take less money when he was conceding goals at the start of last year’.
“And that was when I basically went: ‘no, I won’t play against West Brom, do what you want’.”