"Zero to hero" - Sheffield United star hailed for the "biggest turnaround since Paul Coutts" | OneFootball

FLW's Sheffield United fan pundit has been pleasantly surprised by Vini Souza

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Sheffield United midfielder Vini Souza has been lauded for redeeming his career at Bramall Lane following a turbulent first season with the club.

It has been a generally uplifting start to the 2024/25 Championship campaign for the Blades, who find themselves fourth in the league table but would currently be occupying an automatic promotion slot were it not for a two-point deduction.

Concern was floated following consecutive recent defeats at both Leeds United and Middlesbrough, although Saturday afternoon's commanding 2-0 victory over Stoke City has served to allay any such fears. Make no mistake, Chris Wilder's men are poised to be right up there in the promotion reckoning all year long.

At the heart of their positive start to life back in the second-tier has been a formidable midfield dynamic, one which arguably stands out as the finest in the league. While it was never in question that the likes of Ollie Arblaster and Gus Hamer would thrive at Championship level, Souza's opening season with the club last time out created a rocky relationship with supporters - which he's gone some way to amending.

The 25-year-old was an ever-present last season as United were relegated from the Premier League in dead last, with the Bramall Lane faithful often calling his application and attitude into question.

Such claims were perhaps not unfounded at the time, but rightly so, the Brazilian midfielder has now been lauded for turning around his career with the club and making an extremely strong impression in the eleven second-tier appearances he's made thus far.

Vini Souza praised for Sheffield United turnaround

We asked our Blades fan pundit Jimmy to name one Sheffield United player who has surprised him either positively or negatively with their performances so far this term, and he decided to go with Souza.

"I will not be alone in this shout, from villain to hero, zero to hero - whichever way you want to badge it up - Vini Souza, what a turnaround," Jimmy told Football League World.

"This man was vilified last season for some dreadful performances, and it was justified. I was part of that group that was criticising him and I stand by the critiques from last season because he went missing in the Premier League.

"I don't know whether he thought he was better than the team but he was blaming other players, pointing was a big thing and he'd point to say it was somebody else's fault. He looked lost at times.

"However, this season, he's finally turning into that midfield destroyer we've all wanted for so long. He's a huge difference-maker for us, I think he was disappointing against Leeds - as were the entire team to be honest, so that's not just on Vini - but he's proving to be a real, real player for us now.

"So Vini Souza, the biggest turnaround of the season and the biggest turnaround since Paul Coutts."

Sheffield United will be glad they retained Vini Souza amid summer transfer interest

Despite enduring a tough old time of it in the top-flight last term, Souza was the subject of transfer interest back in the summer. According to reports, both AC Milan and José Mourinho's Fenerbache were interested in the Blades' midfield man, who admitted afterwards that he "didn't care" about the transfer speculation.

United likely could've earned a good price for Souza regardless, but retrospectively, they'll be glad they stuck to their guns and avoided parting ways with a player who many would've been glad to see the back of. He's been a revelation so far in the Championship, providing grit and steel to a dogged midfield unit - handing the freedom over to players like Hamer to advance up the pitch and make things happen.

They'll have to be cautious of potential interest in January, but keeping hold of Souza now feels like a masterstroke which nobody would've expected it to be only a few months prior.