Oliver Burke’s impact at Sheffield United has not been as significant as Chris Wilder would have hoped when landing him at the start of this season in a deal with West Brom which saw Callum Robinson go the other way.
Chris wilder said: “Centre-forwards, scoring goals always gives them a lift I think Oli’s performances have been right where we would expect him to be. There have been opportunities for him to get more (goals) than he has, and I think Oli will admit that. In fact, I know he will. But equally, I think we also should have done better from the assists he comes up with, because he stretches the backline of the opposition ever so well. Certainly it won’t have done Oli any harm scoring and he’s an important player for us. David [McGoldrick] didn’t get many goals for us last season but he contributed so much else that he was one of the first names on the team sheet. I can see Oli doing something similar because they both bring a lot to the table. We all need to score a little more and take advantage of some of the big openings we’ve created. Oli brings that pace which, with Lys [Mousset] struggling a bit, I felt we needed. Oli brings things to the team that I felt we would benefit from and, for me, I think that was a really good bit of business for us. I mean that with no disrespect to Callum whatsoever because he’s a brilliant lad. But we needed the things that Oli brings because there was a lack of them in the squad at that time.”
And the stats certainly back up the role that has been carved out for him. Since the turn of the year, he has netted his first two goals for the club and proven to be an effective option for Wilder as a forward who can help stretch defences and act as the perfect foil for some of the Blades’ other strikers. It’s something Wilder has reinforced when discussing the Scotsman’s role in the team, a role that very much appears to be based on his impact either off the bench or from the outset to tire opposition defenders.
