Chris Wilder insists his Sheffield United side don’t partake in ‘Mickey Mouse stuff’ when it comes to transfer business, pointing to Leeds United’s ‘low-ball’ pursuit of Jayden Bogle as a tactic which affected the player’s mindset.
Leeds plucked Bogle from their Championship promotion rivals just over a month ago, having agreed a £5million fee with Sheffield United. Elland road chiefs are thought to have seen two bids, both worth in the region of £4m, knocked back but eventually got their man for what they believe is a good price.
With Bogle entering the final 12 months of his Blades contract and unwilling to sign a new one, the South Yorkshire side were left with a predicament, either cashing in for a reduced price now or possibly losing the 23-year-old for free in a year’s time. Sheffield United stressed that they’d received a ‘significant’ undisclosed fee for their player but Wilder was seemingly not happy with the way Leeds approached negotiations.
“There’s genuine stuff and then the Mickey Mouse stuff that happens,” Wilder told The Star. “We don’t play those games. We’re straight. If we make a bid for somebody, we go through the front door and deal with it that way. The job is hard enough to play mind games, but for some characters, it does get into them.
There’s never been a better time to sign up to Inside Elland Road with Graham Smyth – offering unrivalled and in-depth coverage of Leeds United
“I think you can look at Jayden as a prime example. As soon as the interest was there, they low-balled us straight away and he was gone. I have to deal with it, and his team-mates have to deal with it as well. You don’t really talk about that, you talk about someone who doesn’t want to be here. Then you have to go through the dance to get the best price.
