Football is a game of systems in a way, a manager decides how his side are going to set up, then gets the players he has to play to that system. Often when players leave a club, managers look for a like-for-like replacement.
I mean, why would you not look for such a replacement? What would you abandon the system that you’ve instigated, and begun to hone, rather than replace the outgoing player. This is likely to be the dilemma that Bradford City will face pretty soon.
Rumour has been around for a while that City striker Charlie Wyke was on his way out of Valley Parade. Those rumours have firmed up somewhat with news from Sky Sports that Wyke is in Sunderland and looking at a medical with the Black Cats on the way to becoming a £600,000 capture for the Wearsiders.
Wyke signed for the Bantams for a fee thought to be around £250,000 on transfer deadline day at the end of January 2017. In his time at Valley Parade Wyke has featured in 62 games for Bradford City, returning a more-than respectable 23 goals and 13 assists.
Sunderland obviously have their own system, which they see Charlie Wyke fitting in to. The £600,000 that they are willing to pay, possibly rising to £1 million with incentive kick-ins, is surely a sign that they are wanting to kick-on and head back to the Championship. They obviously see Wyke as the figurehead striker to help them achieve that.
Where does that leave Bradford City though?
They are obviously left without their most capable striker, that’s a given. Kai Brunker, Omari Patrick and the on-loan George Miller are not the answer to the Bantams’ woes as they face up to life without Wyke.
But Billy Sharp could be!
Sharp is a proven goalscorer both at League One level and in the Sky Bet Championship. Across his career he has 104 goals (20 assists) in 172 League One appearances with a further 91 goals (38 assists) in the Sky Bet Championship. In that respect, there’s no doubt that the Sheffield-born striker could drop down and do a job for City.
Last season, in the Championship, Billy Sharp scored 13 goals (four assists) in 34 appearances for Sheffield United, a side he has scored 78 goals for in exactly 200 appearances. Conversely, in League One, Charlie Wyke scored 15 goals (eight assists) in 40 appearances for Bradford City. Not like-for-like here but almost.
Sharp is also 32, and that is not meant to be unkind at all. He’s proved more than adequately that he can cope in the Championship at that age and he would bring that nous and experience down with him should he make the move from the Blades to the Bantams.
In a way it is insulting to even ask the question could Billy Sharp replace Charlie Wyke at Bradford City – of course he could! All that remains to be seen is whether Sheffield United are willing to give up their club captain and whether Sharp himself fancies a campaign leading the Bantams to hopeful glory.
