Sheffield United have completed the signing of Charlton Athletic winger Ricky Holmes for an undisclosed fee as he signed a two-and-a-half-year deal at Bramall Lane.
Holmes has become the fourth player that Chris Wilder has added to his squad already in what has been a busy start to their January transfer window. Ryan Leonard, Lee Evans and James Wilson have all already arrived at the club from Southend United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United respectively.
With the Blades in contention for promotion in the Championship, it might not be the end of their transfer window movement just yet as they will continue to look to bring in any players that Wilder feels can help them work towards their ambition to get the club back into the Premier League come next May.
Come through the divisions
Many managers have a lot of respect for players who have worked their way up all the way from non-league football to play at the highest level. This is certainly the case for Holmes having started his career at Chelmsford City before going on to play for Barnet, Portsmouth, Northampton Town and most recently Charlton Athletic.
The 30-year-old will add something different to the Blades' attack with pace and power from out wide. He has a history of scoring goals throughout his career and scored a total of 19 goals in 58 league appearances for Charlton. Wilder will be hoping that he can find the back of the net for his side plenty of times between now and the end of the season.
The main concern for Blades supporters will be that Holmes is not proven in the division. He has been at Charlton for the last two years playing in League One which is the highest level he has played at in his career. However, many players have made the step up in the past and been a success and it would not be a surprise to see Holmes be the next.
Wilder "admirer of his ability"
Holmes is no stranger to Blades manager Wilder as the pair have previously worked together at Northampton Town which was a very successful period for the club. Wilder has been looking to secure his signature for a significant amount of time and is delighted to have got the deal over the line.
He told the club's official site: "I worked with Ricky previously and it is no secret that I'm an admirer of his ability. He has something a little different and I'm confident that his best years are ahead of him."
He added: "He completes the jigsaw of our incoming transfers and I must thank Paul Mitchell (head of recruitment) and Carl Shieber (head of football admin) for securing these deals early in the transfer window."
Holmes could make his debut for the Blades this weekend as they travel to Carrow Road to take on Norwich City in an important Championship fixture.