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12.52pm BST

Sheffield United’s Chris Wilder has talked about his club’s summer transfer activity. For what it’s worth I think they’ve recruited pretty well, making signings that could provide a basis for a long-term stay in the top flight or make them very serious promotion contenders if they fail to stay up this year:

We at a different level to every Premier League club. We can’t go and buy somebody from Everton, or even if we did then we couldn’t afford his wages. You look at players in the Premier League, a lot of them started off in the Championship – or they started somewhere else. Harry Maguire, the world’s most expensive centre-half, started off with Sheffield United in League One. He’s an England international and played for England at the World Cup. So everyone has to start somewhere. Phil Jagielka is another who started off with us and played over a decade in the Premier League at Everton. Look at Jamie Vardy [alright point made – ed]

I’m quite happy buying players from the Championship. I looked at the market that we’re in, the attitude of the players and how that fits into how we want to play. We will try to do our best with them and try to make them into better players. They understand they’re not the finished article but have they got the desire and ambition, added to the quality, to go and make a name for themselves – to become a Harry Maguire? It’s up to them now really and we will give them as much help as we possibly can.

12.44pm BST

“Of all the teams in the Premier League, Watford are the team I have the hardest time fitting into a mould,” writes Kári Tulinius. “I’d neither be surprised if they’d be at risk of relegation, nor if they challenged for Europe. Ismaïla Sarr is a player that has impressed every time I’ve seen him, and at least on paper a Sarr-Deloufeu-Welbeck attack could trouble anyone, either as an attacking trident or behind Deeney. You know a heck of a lot more about Watford than I do, how optimistic are you about their chances?

Thanks for asking! I am optimistic, though I think the clubs that Watford competed with last season, particularly Everton and Leicester, have also strengthened and some might be out of reach this year. Welbeck and Sarr should significantly improve their goal threat, Dawson should improve the defence, and they are still strong in central midfield. Gracia might have to show a bit more tactical flexibility this year, but he has the personnel to do so. Looking at the 20 teams in the division I would be surprised if Watford are in the bottom five, and with a fair wind they should be aiming for a first top-half finish since the 80s. It is a shame that it took them so long to conclude the deal for Sarr, which caused some uncertainty, though given his participation in the African Cup of Nations even if he had signed in June he would only have turned up this week.

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