Sheffield United have signed Oli McBurnie from Swansea for a club record £20 million, signing a four year deal. The Scottish forward managed to find the back of the net on 24 occasions in the Championship and will look to make the switch to the Premier League this season.
The signing of McBurnie marks the fourth time that the Blades have broken their transfer record this summer and this is what Chris Wilder has had to say about the signing:
“I’m confident he will be a tremendous success. We need options at the top of the pitch and Oli, as anyone who has watched a significant amount of Championship football will tell you, offers plenty in that area.”
Player History
McBurnie started his career at Bradford City, signing a professional contract in August 2013 and making his professional debut for the club in November 2013. He went on to make 8 appearances in the league during the 2013/14 campaign.
In January 2015, McBurnie joined Chester on a loan deal, but after making just 4 appearances he was recalled early due to injuries in the Bradford side. He did re-join Chester in March making 10 appearances, scoring 4 goals.
In July 2015, McBurnie signed for Swansea on a three year deal. He initially played for the youth side in the Premier League two, where he made 11 appearances, scoring 8 and assisting 2 more. In November 2015 he joined Newport on loan where on his debut he scored a hattrick after coming on as a 58th minute sub! He made 2 more appearances before returning to Swansea, however he was sent straight back out on loan to Bristol Rovers, with him making 5 appearances in the second half of the season.
2017/18 was a breakthrough season for McBurnie as he initially made appearances for the Swansea senior side in the Premier League and after a loan deal with Barnsley fell through he linked up with the Swansea under-23’s, making 7 appearances in the first half of the season with him scoring 10 and assisting once. In January 2018, McBurnie finally joined Barnsley on a loan to the end of the season, with him scoring 9 in 17 games.
Last season McBurnie managed to find the back of the net on 22 occasions for Swansea in the Championship. Of his 42 appearances, 5 were off of the bench, with him also managing to assist 4 other goals.
Internationally, McBurnie has featured for Scotland on 7 occasions, whilst also having played numerous times for their youth sides.
Fantasy Football Potential
Due to the magnitude of the signing, there are no doubts that McBurnie will start for the Blades, the question is for whom, but this is arguably most likely to be McGoldrick. McBurnie clearly did something right last season, scoring 22 goals, but we have seen players struggle to covert this sort of form into the Premier League, can he do it?
Fantasy Premier League have priced the forward at £6.0m, which is a reasonable price considering McGoldrick and Sharp are priced £5.5m and £6.0m respectively. That said, Sheffield United now have McBurnie, Sharp, Mousset, McGoldrick and Robinson all fighting for a spot in forward position, which could lead to rotation in this position.
McGoldrick started on the bench for the first game which will mainly be due to him joining the club late in the transfer window, however from a fantasy football perspective it may be worth just watching to see how this one unfolds.
