Chris Wilder has explained that a difference of opinion with Anis Ben Slimane on his best position sparked his loan move to Norwich City.
The Sheffield United boss was frustrated after the Tunisian international declared his wish to join Johannes Hoff Thorup’s project at Carrow Road last week before a loan to buy move was completed on deadline day.
Slimane made an instant impact for the Canaries, coming on at half time to play a key role in their 1-0 victory over Coventry last weekend.
Wilder accepts that Slimane wanted a fresh challenge after becoming frustrated about his limited opportunities as a central midfielder, but he remains disappointed about how the Tunisian international handled his exit from Bramall Lane.
“Anis came as an eight and a six, and we said at the start of pre-season that it’d be pretty difficult with Vini (Souza), Blaster (Oliver Arblaster) and Gus (Hamer).
“I don’t think he’s a six, and he’s not going to play as an eight. He made it perfectly clear he wanted to go, which isn’t an issue,” Wilder told the Sheffield Star.
“He made it clear he was going to work with an old manager who wanted to play him as an eight. At 4.30pm on Tuesday night, he said he didn’t want to play. He didn’t want to play for my club; he didn’t want to play for Sheffield United, so we did our best to facilitate that.”
The move to Carrow Road saw Slimane finally link up with Thorup after numerous tussles against each other in Denmark.
City’s chief believes Slimane will add depth and a different profile to their midfield stable as he continues to plot their Championship progress.
“He’s used to the league. He’s used to the culture and the country and everything,” said the Dane.
“The physicality in it, especially, he’s used to, and then he’s a natural football player, so he’s calm on the ball, even though he’s under pressure, and can get out of some situations where you don’t actually think it’s possible.
“What he did to the team was actually what we needed, because we needed even more control in the second half. And he was a big part of a team where there was a lot of guys playing well, and particularly these 30 minutes at the start of second half.”
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