Sheffield United are reportedly interested in bringing Chris Wilder back to Bramall Lane as manager, following the Blades' difficult start to the Premier League season.
The Yorkshire club returned to the top flight after finishing second in the Championship under the stewardship of Paul Heckingbottom last term, ending a two-year spell in the second tier of English football.
However, the Blades are currently winless in their first five matches back in the Premier League, with their only point of the campaign so far coming in a 2-2 draw at home to Sean Dyche's Everton on September 2.
Heckingbottom's charges sit 17th in the top-flight standings having collected one point from their opening five games, lying outside of the relegation zone on goal difference at this early stage of the season.
According to the Daily Mail, Sheffield United are exploring the possibility of appointing former boss Wilder once again in an attempt to avoid an immediate relegation to the Championship.
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The report claims that the Blades have been in talks with the 55-year-old over a return to the managerial hotseat at Bramall Lane, with Heckingbottom's position at the club said to be in 'serious jeopardy'.
It is understood that Heckingbottom is admired by United's hierarchy after achieving automatic promotion last term, however that fondness has not prevented the club from contacting potential replacements.
Any move to sack the current manager would be at odds with the strong backing that Blades' CEO Stephen Bettis offered the 46-year-old in a recent interview with local journalists, although it is believed that the club's owner Prince Abdullah has a good relationship with Wilder.
With a two-month spell at Watford ending at the conclusion of the 2022-23 term, Wilder has been out of work since May but could be handed another chance to manage in the Premier League.
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The former Middlesbrough boss took charge of the Blades for five years between 2016 and 2021, earning promotions from League One and the Championship before achieving a remarkable ninth-placed top-flight finish in the 2019-20 campaign.
The report adds that Wilder was in attendance on Saturday afternoon as Sheffield United lost in dramatic fashion to Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham Hotspur in North London, further adding to speculation that Heckingbottom's job could be under threat.
Summer arrival Gustavo Hamer gave the visitors at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium the lead in the second half, however stoppage-time strikes from Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski meant that United were denied their maiden away points of the season.
The Blades' September schedule does not get much easier, with Champions League-bound Newcastle United heading to Bramall Lane on Sunday, before the top-flight newcomers face Europa Conference League winners West Ham United in East London on September 30.
Carter White
