Chris Wilder Accuses Wrexham of ‘Blanket Bombing’ as Callum O’Hare Bid Arrives

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has accused Wrexham of a “blanket bombing” approach to the final days of the transfer window, after the Championship promotion favourites tabled a bid worth around £6.5m for Blades midfielder Callum O’Hare.

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson is eager to add an attacking midfielder before Tuesday night’s deadline, and O’Hare has emerged as one of several targets the club has pursued in the closing stages of the window. Wilder made clear he has no intention of losing the 28-year-old without a fight.

“He’s a good player so I’m not surprised there’s been interest,” Wilder said. “I wouldn’t want him to go, but I understand there’s a bid in and it’ll be dealt with by the certain people who deal with these things.”

“In for Half the Division”

Speaking ahead of Sheffield United’s home Championship fixture against Bolton Wanderers, Wilder went further, describing a Wrexham recruitment operation casting a wide net across the division as the deadline approaches. “This is not a criticism, but Wrexham are in for half the division,” he said. “They’ve done business, it’s their prerogative and what they need to do. I know there have been bids on other players from that football club in that position as well, so maybe it’s a bit of blanket bombing in that position and see what comes up.”

Wilder was quick to add that his focus remained on keeping O’Hare’s mind on Tuesday’s game rather than any transfer speculation swirling around him. “It’s not a done deal, I’ve notified Cal to get his head down and get his head on and play for us on Tuesday night,” Wilder said. “If that changes, then that changes. But I know they’ve been in for a number of players, which is what they can do at this particular point of the window, and Callum is one of them.”

A Rivalry With History

This is not the first time Wilder has aimed a pointed remark in Parkinson’s direction. The two managers were teammates at Southampton in the 1980s, and Wilder has made no secret of his willingness to needle his old colleague publicly when the opportunity arises. Ahead of Sheffield United’s league fixture with Cardiff City last Saturday, Wilder revisited comments Parkinson made after the two clubs met on the opening weekend of the season.

“I watched the game against Wrexham, I thought it was one-way traffic for 20 minutes,” Wilder said. “The second half, I didn’t agree with what the Wrexham manager said, I don’t usually anyway, in terms of that it was a one-sided game. I thought he should give the opposition a little bit more credit and respect.”

O’Hare’s Season So Far

O’Hare is now in his third season at Bramall Lane after previous spells with Aston Villa, Carlisle United and Coventry City, and has been an ever-present figure for Sheffield United across all competitions this season, featuring in each of the club’s five matches so far. He scored in a draw with Cardiff City in his most recent league outing and also found the net in the Blades’ EFL Cup first round victory over Mansfield Town on 9 August. He still has two years remaining on his contract at the club.

That combination of form and contract security gives Sheffield United a strong hand in resisting any approach, even one from a club with the financial resources Wrexham have built under their high-profile ownership. Wilder’s public comments suggest he intends to use that advantage rather than simply wait to see how the situation develops.

A Player Who Fought Back From Serious Injury

O’Hare’s current run of five appearances out of five this season means more than a simple statistic given his injury history. He suffered a serious knee injury on Boxing Day 2022 while still at Coventry City, an issue that kept him out of the team for a full year. He did not score again for more than 18 months after the injury, finally finding the net once more on his second start back, against Birmingham City in December 2023. That recovery, and the form he showed once fully fit again, played a part in Sheffield United deciding to sign him as a free agent in July 2024, ending a Coventry spell that began as a loan from Aston Villa in 2019 and included a League One title in his first season on loan at the club.

Wrexham’s Wider Business

The O’Hare bid arrives amid a period of significant activity in and around Wrexham’s squad as the club works to build on a season that ended in near-miss disappointment. Defender Callum Coady left the club by mutual consent in the days before Wilder’s comments, while Wrexham have also been closing in on a move for Burnley defender Joe Worrall as Parkinson looks to add defensive reinforcements alongside his search for a creative midfield option.

Missing Out by Two Points

Wrexham’s aggressive approach to this window traces back to how last season ended. A 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough on the final day, combined with Hull City’s win elsewhere, left Wrexham seventh in the Championship table, missing out on a playoff place by two points. It brought an end to a run of three straight promotions that had carried the club from the National League into the second tier of English football inside a few remarkable seasons.

Parkinson called seventh “a real achievement at this level” while acknowledging the squad had been “determined” to reach the top six. “We’ve brought in so many new players to the club, slowly but surely we got to know each other,” he said. “We formulated a really good dressing room. We were so close to achieving [a top six finish].” He pointed to a full pre-season together as a foundation the club could build on this time around, alongside further recruitment. “We know where we want to strengthen and we’ll make this squad as strong as possible for next year,” Parkinson said.

Captain Dominic Hyam described the mood inside the squad after the Middlesbrough draw as “raw,” while insisting the club had set a standard it now intends to build on. “We’ve had a really strong season in the Championship, and we’re proud of the efforts involved in the club,” Hyam said. “The standard’s been set now, we’ve got top quality players, the manager’s been really good with us, and we’ll want to go one better next season.”

That context helps explain the scale of Wrexham’s activity as Tuesday’s deadline approaches. A club that came within two points of a playoff place, and within touching distance of a fourth straight promotion, is not treating this window as routine business. Parkinson’s willingness to pursue targets across the division, in Wilder’s telling, reflects a club trying to close a narrow gap rather than one simply topping up its squad. Whether that produces a deal for O’Hare, Worrall or another target entirely before Tuesday’s deadline remains to be seen, but Wilder’s comments make clear he expects Wrexham’s activity to continue running until the window shuts.

Sheffield United’s Priorities

For Sheffield United, the priority is simple: keep O’Hare’s attention on Tuesday’s match against Bolton and worry about the transfer noise only if and when a bid arrives that the club feels obliged to weigh up seriously. Wilder’s press conference remarks, needling Parkinson over a six-year-old friendship forged at Southampton as much as the current transfer interest, suggest a manager relaxed enough about his position to have some fun with a rival while still drawing a clear line on what he is prepared to lose from his squad this week.

Whether O’Hare himself has any interest in a move to Wrexham has not been made public. For now, both clubs prepare for Tuesday night fixtures of their own, with the Championship’s transfer window closing not long after the final whistle blows.

Sheffield United’s home game against Bolton and Wrexham’s own Tuesday fixture will both play out with one eye on the clock, a familiar feeling for anyone who has followed a deadline day scramble before. Bids can be submitted right up until the window closes, deals can still collapse in the final hour, and a player like O’Hare can go from headline transfer target to unused substitute inside a single news cycle depending on how the next 48 hours unfold. Wilder’s approach, judging by his own comments, is to treat the noise as background rather than a distraction his players need to carry into a match that still has three points on the line regardless of what happens elsewhere in the division.

Parkinson, for his part, has shown no sign of easing off in his search for reinforcements even with the clock running down, consistent with a manager who watched his side fall two points short of a playoff place last season and has made clear he does not intend to repeat that outcome. Whether O’Hare ends up part of that push remains an open question until Tuesday night’s deadline passes.