Sheffield United boss Slavisa Jokanovic will speak individually to his wanted stars this summer, including Sander Berge – the Norway midfielder has been linked with all of Arsenal, Aston Villa and Napoli.
Berge, 23, reportedly has a £35million release clause Sheffield United.
He arrived at the club from Genk midway through the 2019/20 campaign in a deal worth more than £20million and now, following his side’s relegation from the Premier League, teams look set to swoop in for the midfielder.
Arsenal have been long-term admirers of Berge and more recently, the likes of Aston Villa and Napoli have been credited with an interest.
The Blades are said to value him at upwards of that £35million release clause which has seemingly deterred any potential buying clubs so far and now, Sheffield Star has reported that Blades boss Jokanovic will discuss with Berge his future at Bramall Lane.
They write how United are ‘encouraging’ bids of £35million for Berge and that Jokanovic wants to ‘discover’ how the midfielder would react if a summer move ‘fails to materialise’.
Jokanovic then is seemingly keen on keeping Berge at Bramall Lane for the upcoming 2021/22 Championship season and that could be a risky game – if Berge fails to impress in the second-tier then his transfer value will plummet and United could be left short-handed later down the line.
Thoughts?
£35million is extortionate. Berge is no doubt a quality player and that valuation/release clause is obviously a deterrent from Sheffield United.
If Blades can keep him going into the 2021/22 season then would give their promotion credentials an undoubted boost but doing so and failing to secure promotion at first time of asking could see Blades lose out of a lot of transfer value – a tricky one for Jokanovic and United to navigate.
