Why Sheffield United should reignite their interest in Yakou Meite
Towards the end of August, a report from the Daily Mail had claimed that Sheffield United were interested in signing Ivorian international striker Yakou Meite from Reading. However, the 24-year-old ended up staying put at his current club and has continued to fire on all cylinders in the Championship.
Profile
Yakou Meite rose through the youth ranks of Paris Saint-Germain and made his first-team debut during the 2015-16 season. However, stiff competition for places at the French capital limited him to just a solitary competitive appearance, with Meite largely featuring for the club’s reserves in the fourth-tier.
A year later, he was snapped up by Reading in the EFL Championship. Meite spent the 2017-18 campaign on loan at Sochaux in Ligue 2 after scoring just once in 15 appearances for the Berkshire outfit in his breakthrough campaign. The Ivorian returned to the Madejski Stadium ahead of the 2018-19 season and has since established himself as a key player at the club.
Meite has once again hit the ground running this term after bagging 15 goals in the Championship over the past two seasons. The versatile left-footed forward has scored 4 times in 7 outings so far, contributing massively to Reading’s stellar start to the 2020-21 campaign in the Championship.
Meite would add more firepower to the Blades’ attack
Sheffield United were in dire need of bringing in attacking reinforcements after scoring only 39 goals en route to their impressive 9th-place finish in the Premier League last season. In response, the Blades splashed a club-record £23.5million to secure the services of highly-rated youngster Rhian Brewster from Liverpool.
However, United are yet to reap the benefits of their massive outlay in the summer market. Despite his status as one of the hottest young talents in English football, Brewster has struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League. The 20-year-old has not only failed to find the net in 4 appearances for the Blades so far but has also struggled to make a real impression in the top-flight.
Indeed, it’s too early to write Brewster off, given his massive potential. But it goes without saying that Sheffield United need some immediate game-changers following a dismal start to the campaign that has seen them lose 7 of their 8 opening PL fixtures so far.
The Blades are presently rock bottom of the table with just a solitary point from 8 games, scoring only 4 times in the process. David McGoldrick has scored both of their goals from open play, with the two other coming from the penalty spot. The likes of Billy Sharp and Oliver McBurnie have offered next to nothing in front of goal while the club’s goalscoring woes have been compounded by the injury to Lys Mousset.
Suffice to say, Sheffield United need to get their campaign back on track if they are to avoid relegation. They need more goals and reigniting interest in Yakou Meite would make a lot of sense in footballing terms.
The Ivorian has proven himself to be a reliable source of goals in the Championship over the past two seasons. He looks more than ready for a shot at the Premier League. Meite has the versatility to operate as a centre-forward and also in a wide attacking role on the left. That would offer Chris Wilder with some quality attacking cover.
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Verdict
Sheffield United need to bring in some readymade attacking reinforcements in January to turn their fortunes around. Yakou Meite has shown a lot of promise in the second-tier over the past two seasons and has less than two years remaining on his current deal at Reading. Having said that, the Blades should make a renewed attempt to sign the Ivorian during the mid-season trading period.
