Why Panagiotis Retsos to Sheffield United would make no sense
According to Daily Mail, Sheffield United are inching closer to sign Bayer Leverkusen defender Panagiotis Retsos on loan.
Retsos, 21, who was born in South Africa, has made five appearances for Greece at the international level. He started his youth career at Olympiacos before making his senior debut against Arouca in the Europa League qualifying round in August 2016.
He then signed for German side Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2017 and played regularly in his debut season. He was impressive that year but could only make one appearance the last term due to a series of injuries.
Meanwhile, Sheffield United have impressed upon their return to the top-flight and are currently 8th in the table. They have endured a slight dip in form in recent weeks, winning just one of their last five league games.
That said, their defensive record has been beyond expectations as they have conceded only 23 goals in 24 games, second behind league leaders Liverpool.
Wilder has used the same back-three of Jack O’ Connell, Chris Basham and John Egan in almost all the fixtures. And the trio has not disappointed so far. They conceded three goals in one game against Manchester United but barring that, they have been quite solid.
Wing-backs Enda Stevens and George Baldock have featured in every single game this term. And the defensive unit has been very hard to penetrate, given their record so far.
In addition to that, centre-back Jack Wright has returned from his loan spell at Bolton Wanderers and youngster Kean Bryan is also available to fill in at the heart of the defence. The Blades also signed Jack Robinson from Nottingham Forest a week back.
Therefore, adding Panagiotis Retsos to their side would not be apt. They have more than covered up for their lack of numbers and signing the youngster would only waste their resources.
With the first-choice defenders showing no signs of slowing down, it would be difficult for the 21-year-old to get regular playtime. And above that, he hasn’t featured for Leverkusen beyond six games in all competitions.
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Verdict
Retsos is far too young and he needs to build confidence by playing regularly. That would be impossible at Bramall Lane, given that their defensive unit has shown no margin for errors.
Therefore, it would do good for both United and Retsos to forget about the deal for the time being.
