Chris Wilder's blunt verdict on £5m Jayden Bogle exit as Leeds United brilliantly troll Sheffield United
Leeds United lured their fourth summer signing away from Championship rivals Sheffield United.
Chris Wilder was disappointed to hear Jayden Bogle express his desire to join Leeds United this week but insists Sheffield United got a ‘reasonable price’ for their man.
Bogle’s move to Leeds was confirmed on Saturday evening with the right-back putting pen to paper on a four-year deal. The official fee was undisclosed but it is believed to be around £5million, with the Whites previously seeing two bids worth around £4m rejected.
Sheffield United were thought to want around £7m initially but the newly-relegated side were in a vulnerable position, with Bogle entering the final 12 months of his contract this summer. And once the 23-year-old made it clear he wanted to leave, Wilder believes his side were left with little choice but to do business.
“That was a disappointing one to lose but we move on. He ran his contract down, so this is the difficult part of it, positions that clubs get put into”, he told BBC Radio Sheffield. “Absolutely, 100 per cent in an ideal world we don’t want players to run their contracts down, but I can’t put a gun to his head and put a pen in his hand to sign a contract for Sheffield United.
“He made it clear this week to me that he saw his future elsewhere, he saw his future at Leeds United. The best thing when players do that is try to get the best price possible. Hopefully Sheffield United fans don’t see him in a poor light because he's done well for us and he's somebody we enjoyed working with.
“He was an outstanding player for us, we’d have loved to have been in the position to negotiate and sign a longer contract but when he doesn't, we have to make decisions. And when he wants to play up the road, we have to get the best price and I think we've got a reasonable price for him.”
Sheffield United have seemingly been at pains to reassure fans over the sale of Bogle, with the club announcing his exit after a ‘significant’ undisclosed fee was agreed. There have been more than a dozen exits from Bramall Lane this summer and so supporter unrest has intensified upon losing a key player to a Championship promotion rival.
And Leeds took their chance to aim a light-hearted dig at their Yorkshire rivals when confirming Bogle would take the No.2 shirt previously worn by Luke Ayling. In a post on their X account, the club wrote: “Iconic number for a significant player!”
In his first interview as a Leeds player, Bogle spoke of his desire to ‘create history’ with Leeds and the attacking right-back fills a major hole in the squad. Despite being only 23, the defender has more than 100 senior appearances under his belt and will provide the experience Daniel Farke needed in last season’s tougher moments.
The £5m arrival remained in West Yorkshire as his new teammates flew out to Germany for their pre-season tour, but he is expected to join up shortly and could even make an unofficial debut in one of the two planned friendlies. Supporters will get a chance to see that occasion if it happens, just a little later than planned following confirmation games will be streamed for free on LUTV shortly after the full-time whistle.