Richairo Zivkovic has signed for Sheffield United on transfer deadline day as Chris Wilder continues his busy January window.
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Following on from the club-record signing of Sander Berge from Genk on Thursday, plus the additions of Jack Robinson and Jack Rodwell, the Blades have signed promising striker Zivkovic.
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Zivkovic, 23, has signed on a loan deal until the end of the season from Chinese club Changchun Yatai and they have an option to make the deal permanent in the summer.
“People will recognise we do sometimes go left field with our signings, but we’ve worked very hard on this one, because we have had to,” Wilder said. “We know enough about him, we’ve kept tabs on Richairo for a while and tracked his progress. He is a Dutch international at ages under the senior level, he’ll be unpredictable to other teams, but we know what we’re getting and he wants to make the most of the opportunity.
“He will give us genuine pace at the top of the pitch. We’re learning all the time this season, but pace in the Premier League is key and Richairo is someone we think can kick us on. Hopefully things go well enough to turn it into a permanent move in the summer - this is another signing of a young player with an eye on the future.”
Wilder and Sheffield United have taken the Premier League by storm since their return in 2019-20 and they aren’t resting on their laurels.
The Blades sit in eighth place in the table and sit seven points off the top four and extra firepower would be very welcome as they are the lowest goalscorers in the top half of the table. Ollie McBurnie, Lys Mousset and David McGoldrick have all led the line very well this season but scoring goals has become a big problem for Wilder’s side.
Zivkovic is a wild card signing but those kind of deals have worked out very well for Wilder and the Blades in recent seasons. He now has the chance to prove himself between now and the end of the season.