Hamza Choudhury, who is awaiting his debut for Bangladesh, has signed with Sheffield United for the remainder of the season.
Welcoming him to the team, Sheffield United posted on social media, “Hamza Choudhury is a Blade.” For those familiar with football history, Sheffield is known as “The Blades” due to the city’s heritage of knife and blade production. Shortly after, the club posted another update featuring Hamza’s photo with the caption, “Bangladeshi Blade,” alongside the Bangladeshi flag.
Speculation had been swirling for days, and on Monday, the official announcement finally came. Hamza has joined Sheffield United on loan from Leicester City for the rest of the season.
The 27-year-old defensive midfielder and defender had been struggling to get regular game time at Leicester in the English Premier League. Now, he’s looking forward to playing regularly in the English Championship with Sheffield United.
Currently sitting second in the Championship table with 58 points from 29 matches, Sheffield is pushing for promotion to the Premier League next season.
Hamza has previously worked under Sheffield’s coach, Chris Wilder, during the 2022-23 season, when Wilder managed Watford, where Hamza played on loan.
Hamza shared that Wilder’s presence made the decision to join Sheffield United much easier.
“Discussions had been ongoing for a couple of weeks. I’m happy to be here and ready to get on the pitch. I’m well aware of the team’s position in the table, and I want to help the club achieve even more,” Hamza said on the club’s website.
“I worked with the Gaffer for a couple of months at Watford, and although it wasn’t a long time, I really enjoyed it. When he called me this time, my answer was a simple yes.”
Hamza joined Leicester’s academy at the age of eight and debuted for the senior team in 2015. Over the years, he’s had loan spells at Burton Albion (twice) and Watford before this new chapter with Sheffield United. He might make his debut for the club in Saturday’s match against Derby County.
So far, Hamza has played 91 matches for Leicester City.
Recently, Hamza has been a hot topic in Bangladeshi football. Having represented England at the U21 level, he received clearance last month to represent Bangladesh in international football. His debut for the country is expected to take place in March against India.
Hamza’s mother hails from Bahubal in the Habiganj district of Bangladesh, while his father is from Grenada in the Caribbean. After his parents separated, his mother married a Bangladeshi man.
Hamza visited Bangladesh multiple times during his childhood. When it came to national team representation, he had the option to choose between Bangladesh and Grenada. Although he initially dreamed of representing England at the international level, he realized that dream was out of reach at this stage of his career. Ultimately, he chose to represent Bangladesh.
