Chris Wilder admits Sheffield United star's future may hinge on Premier League promotion | OneFootball

Anel Ahmedhodzic's Blades contract is due to expire in the summer of 2026.

Chris Wilder has admitted that Anel Ahmedhodzic’s Bramall Lane future may hinge on whether Sheffield United secure promotion back to the Premier League over the next few months.

The Bosnian defender is set to enter the final year of his Blades contract in the summer, and recently admitted that he feels he has “unfinished business” in the Premier League.

With no signs of a new deal on the horizon in the near future, Ahmedhodzic's immediate future remains unclear, but Wilder expects that top flight football could be the key to keeping hold of him.

United have taken advantage of Leeds’ recent slip-ups, and currently find themselves with a leading chance of securing automatic promotion back to the top flight.

Wilder believes Ahmedhodzic’s future could depend on Premier League promotion

It’s only natural for clubs at the top end of the Championship to have concerns about losing their better players to teams in the top flight.

Players in the upper echelons of the second tier already find themselves within touching distance of the Premier League, which is a significant career goal for many.

With that in mind, it’s no surprise at all that Wilder believes United may have to secure promotion in order to keep Ahmedhodzic.

Speaking ahead of the Blades’ trip to face Oxford United, Wilder addressed the centre-half’s future, saying: “I do think it’s dependent on what happens at the end of the season, because these are ambitious boys. But we have to secure longer-term contracts for our players.

“It is really difficult, and I know there was a massively difficult situation with Illy (Ndiaye) and Sander (Berge).

“We can’t, as a club, allow players to run their contracts down. It’s a different attitude and a different approach now, I’d like to think, securing our young players because of the number of them we have in the building. And the assets we’ve got now; it is really important from a financial point of view that we protect ourselves.”

Wilder was also full of praise for the way Ahmedhodzic has developed during his time at Bramall Lane, as well as the work that the club put in to secure his services.

He continued: “We’ve put a lot of work into Anel. It was a great signing and he’s been outstanding. The price the club paid for him, around £3million, was an absolute steal and his market value has got to be three or four times that now.

“The work we’ve done as a football club and the work Anel’s done is really key. I’m sure he’s enjoying his football, but we don’t know what’s around the corner, so we’ll wait and see.

“But he’s someone we’d like to build around and I’m sure we’ll have that opportunity, especially if we get to where we want to be, come the end of the season.”

Sheffield United cannot afford a repeat of the last time they were promoted

When Sheffield United were last promoted to the Premier League two summers ago, they were dealt two huge blows as a result of contract situations concerning two of their most important players.

First, Iliman Ndiaye, who had notched 24 goal contributions in the Championship, was “reluctantly” allowed to leave for Marseille on the opening day of August. The winger’s contract had been allowed to run down to its final year, so when he rejected a renewed offer of “lucrative terms”, United were forced to cut their losses.

Then, just over a week later, a very similar scenario played out with key midfielder Sander Berge, who left for Burnley, a direct rival to United in their bid to consolidate their spot in English football’s top tier.

The loss of key players right before the start of the season left Paul Heckingbottom’s side facing an uphill battle before the season had even begun. The Blades must surely want to do everything in their power to ensure that they don’t face the same fate again.

Ahmedhodzic has become a vital part of the team over his three-year stint in South Yorkshire and, as Wilder alluded to, at 26, he is the type of player who United could build their team around over the next few years.

Although he can have moments of madness, like when he was sent off for grabbing the throat of Coventry’s Norman Bassette earlier this season, for the most part, Ahmedhodzic is a classy and reliable operator in the backline.

Making the jump from the Championship to the Premier League is a tough task in itself. The last thing United will want is to potentially face that possibility without one of their most important players.