Hoffenheim’s Bundesliga enforcer Florian Grillitsch has a firm admirer in Chris Wilder – the manager of Premier League high-flyers Sheffield United.
Chris Wilder is a big fan of Hoffenheim midfielder Florian Grillitsch with the £20 million-rated Austrian emerging as an option for Sheffield United in the final days of the January transfer window, according to the Star.
You’d never guess that John Fleck and Oliver Norwood are playing Premier League football for the first time this season. Two lower-league veterans have been a revelation in their debut top-flight campaigns, their boundless energy and superb passing range playing a major role in The Blades stunning charge into European contention.
But the outstanding form of Fleck and Norwood, not to mention Mo Besic and John Lundstram, will not stop Sheffield United from attempting to add one more midfielder to their ranks.
Genk powerhouse Sander Berge is the number one target but, with a whole host of rival clubs flirting with the Norway international, The Blades have drawn up a contingency plan or two. The Star reports that, should Berge slip through their grasp, Sheffield United will turn to Olympiakos’s Mady Camara or Hoffenheim’s Grillitsch.
‘Got everything’
The latter is one of the Bundesliga’s most underrated ball-winners and, according to reports, the £20 million man has really impressed Wilder since the Yorkshire giants started taking an interest in his performances.
The 24-year-old, who shone in a Champions League clash against Manchester City in late 2018, is a real all-rounder. Grillitsch is strong in the tackle and an excellent distributor, completing 87 per cent of his passes this season, and therefore looks a perfect fit alongside Fleck and Norwood.
Perhaps Julian Nagelsmann, the coaching prodigy who has turned RB Leipzig into Bundesliga title-challengers since leaving Hoffenheim in the summer, said it best.
“Exceptional. He has a very big career ahead of him,” the 32-year-old told Fussball.
“He has very good pace, which is very valuable for his defensive actions. You can see that he can do everything with the ball.”
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