Sheffield United is experiencing a summer of transformation ahead of the new Championship season, following previous season’s failures.

The Blades began the season as one of the favourites for promotion after reaching the play-off final, but under Ruben Selles, they struggled so much that Chris Wilder had to return and rescue a 13th-place finish.

In an effort to balance the budget, the South Yorkshire club has permitted numerous high-profile players to leave, including Danny Ings, Tom Davies, and Ben Mee.

Sheffield United revealed the loan signing of Romelle Donovan from Brentford earlier today, and now there’s an interesting update on the club’s ownership.

Sheffield United’s owners failed to pay Prince Abdullah’s team.

In December 2024, Prince Abdullah sold Sheffield United to COH Sports, an American-led investment company that includes Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy, effectively terminating his control of the club.

However, the sale of the South Yorkshire club was structured so that payments were made over time rather than all at once.

Late last year, there were indications of a dispute over COH Sports’ remaining payments owed to the 61-year-old, with the prospect of legal action.

Now, an instalment from the new owners to Prince Abdullah’s squad that was due at the end of June has also been missing, implying that around £35 million is now owed, according to Kieran Maguire.

He adds that the former owners have now written to both the EFL and the IFR, expressing their concerns about perceived flaws in the OADT (Owners’ and Directors’ Declaration Test) and whether selling clubs to related parties may have implications for other deals involving instalment payments.

How will this affect the Blades?

Given the recent frequency of point deductions, news of missed payments should rightly upset Sheffield United fans.

However, Maguire has reassured supporters by explaining why they should not face such penalty.

In response to a Sheffield Wednesday supporter in the comments, he clarified that no football payment regulations had been infringed because the disagreement between the current and former owners was purely commercial.

He noted that the team was once in a promotion position and receiving parachute payments, but this is no longer the case, and that COH Sports is a private equity group that is only interested in money, not football.

Sheffield United are set to adopt a different approach this summer, having offloaded some top earners in order to comply with the new Squad Cost Ratio rules (SCR).

It’s unclear whether the latest news will have an impact on this, although the Blades are anticipated to be more market-savvy and may lose some of their quality, with Harrison Burrows connected with a move to West Ham.

Whatever happens, the South Yorkshire club does not want this hanging over their heads as they begin the new season.