Sheffield United, led by Che Adams, accomplished what every club aspires to: they found a gem in the rough of non-league football.
The most notable example is, of course, Jamie Vardy, who joined Leicester City after impressing in the fifth division and went on to become one of the club’s finest attackers ever.
Adams followed a similar path, impressing for non-league side Ilkeston before joining the Blades.
However, memories in Yorkshire will be less fond than Leicester’s Vardy punt, as another club, Birmingham City, emerged victorious.
Sheffield United made a chance on Che Adams.
When the Blades signed Adams, who was only 18 years old, he was far from a certain winner.
He had just scored eight goals for Ilkeston but hadn’t yet played a senior game in professional football.
Still, the Blades, then led by Nigel Clough, decided they had seen enough and paid a price to lure Adams to Bramall Lane, offering him a two-year contract upon arrival.
It was not an instant success, however. In his first season, he appeared in 11 League One games, scoring one in the play-off semi-final second leg.
Birmingham City came sniffing after Adams’ good season.
Adams’ second season with the Blades was far more productive, with 36 appearances and 11 goals in League One.
This grabbed the attention of Birmingham, who paid £1.5 million to bring the striker from Bramall Lane to St Andrew’s in the summer of 2016.
Even this deal was not without danger, as the fee represented a substantial number of money for a player who had previously played one successful season in the Football League.
Notching seven and five Championship goals in his first two seasons in the Midlands wasn’t a bad return, but the Blues may have wondered if they’d spent their money wisely at the time.
They had no reason to be afraid…
Sheffield United will rue the squandered opportunity with Adams.
Adams definitely demonstrated his abilities during the 2018/19 season.
In 46 second-tier games, he scored a stunning 22 goals and five assists, during the same Championship season that saw the Blades promoted to the Premier League, while the Blues finished 17th, making Adams’ 20+ goal return even more spectacular.
So, while United had plenty to be happy about that year, there would have been a sense of sadness that they had a player like Adams in their ranks who they had let leave for a very cheap fee not long previously.
What would have created outrage at Bramall Lane in the summer of 2019 was the fee Birmingham agreed to sell the striker for, luring Southampton into a £15 million deal ahead of their Premier League season.
| Adams’ Birmingham City career stats – per Transfermarkt | ||
|---|---|---|
| Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 123 | 38 | 13 |
If the Blades had kept Adams instead of selling him, he could have moved up to the top tier with them or earned a similar fee.
In any case, Sheffield United will find it difficult not to feel as if they squandered an opportunity with Adams.
Birmingham ended up with millions in their account that could have, and perhaps should have, gone to the Blades.
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