Chris Wilder
Chris Wilder has broken his silence on John Lundstram’s contract situation by admitting the club has offered the wantaway midfielder a new deal ‘in line with the top earners’ but it’s been rejected. The Blades boss has been speaking about the issue at today’s press conference ahead of the visit of Manchester City. Lundstram’s current deal expires at the end of the season and although there have been attempts to tie him down to a new contract, Wilder admits the club is starting to accept the 26-year-old looks set to leave. The midfielder has started all six of United’s matches this season and was a key part of their success last campaign, as United secured an excellent ninth-place finish.
Chris Wilder said “It’s been very frustrating for me personally. I want John to stop, I want him to stop here. We have been in discussions for quite a number of months regarding him stopping. It’s not a situation I have had to encounter too many times here. We have had players going into the final year of their contract before. Discussions obviously take place before that, because we don’t act like that as a football club. We’ve offered him a very, very attractive contract as far as I am concerned and as far as the football club is concerned. It is up there with the top players at the football club, but he’s made a decision him and his agent that he doesn’t want to sign it. I respect that. He’s still a Sheffield United player and still available for selection. We are coming to a period where there are three options for me. He runs down his contract, which he has every right to do that, but that’s not ideal for us, we try to recoup some value for the player in the January window, or the best option is he signs that new and improved contract, which will or won’t happen, which is unfortunate. I think that’s pretty straightforward. He isn’t going to sign a new contract – he most probably wants to run his contract down, or we will invite or ask for offers for a very good young player who has been in the Premier League. My attitude towards it is that I will move on I won’t think too much about it. I will concentrate on players who want to commit and sign here such as the likes of Fleck, Stevens and Norwood and the other players who have, those players who have been on the journey with us. We feel it is a very good offer and there’s always two sides to it and John and his agent feel that they want to maybe negotiate elsewhere. That’s where it is at.”
