Sheffield United had AEK Athens chief fuming over ‘outrageous’ demands for former Blades ace

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It is incredibly common that a transfer deal can fall through; that is due to players not agreeing to terms or if the two clubs cannot come to an agreement, and this was the case for a player between Sheffield United and AEK Athens.

Several deals that Sheffield United wished to complete did not go through this summer, while other clubs were unable to secure deals for Blades players.

Players will often open up about previous dealings with previous clubs or regarding failed moves after a period of time, be that once they have retired or once some time has passed from the incident.

For one former Sheffield United ace, he has done the latter about a deal between the Blades and AEK Athens.

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Michael Verrips on the ‘outrageous’ demands of Sheffield United that made the AEK Athens official hang up

Former Sheffield United goalkeeper Michael Verrips has opened up on his failed move from Sheffield United to AEK Athens, speaking with Het Nieuwsblad.

At the beginning of 2021, a transfer to AEK Athens seemed in the works, but negotiations completely broke down. According to Verrips, the conversations lasted more than a week, with the deal failing due to the six million euro asking price.

Verrips said: “Sheffield only wanted to loan me out without a purchase option.

“Someone from Sheffield mentioned that astronomical amount, and the AEK guy went blank, and I think he was red too. He started yelling that it wasn’t possible and that it was outrageous, and then he just hung up. Then I sat there in that Zoom call, looking around. ‘Okay, this conversation clearly wasn’t going well.’”

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Michael Verrips’ career at Sheffield United

The goalkeeper spent three seasons at Sheffield United, joining the club in the summer of 2019 from Mechelen.

Michael Verrips did not have much of a playing career at Sheffield United, as he made only four appearances for the club, with one of these coming in the Championship.

He would be loaned out twice during his time at Sheffield United, which limited his playing time with the Blades.

Verrips eventually left Sheffield United in the summer of 2022 to join Fortuna Sittard, having spent the previous season on loan at the Dutch club.