Sheffield United midfielder subject of serious transfer interest as chief makes "different planet" claim

Swedish giants AIK will make an attempt to keep Sheffield United midfielder Ismaila Coulibaly at Friends Arena in the summer - despite admitting that they may have to sell some players if the Blades insist on a transfer fee. The Malian joined AIK on loan in January and has another year on his Bramall Lane deal.

Coulibaly is scheduled to remain with AIK until July, with the Allsvenskan season overlapping with the English one. After a slow start to life in Stockholm, which saw him played out of position on the left, Coulibaly celebrated his return to a more central position with two goals in AIK’s 6-2 win over IFK Norrköping earlier this month.

Exclusive: Double promotion winner leads "ruthless" United summer exodus

United did not include an option-to-buy into the agreement that took Coulibaly to Sweden but the player recently said that he would be “open” to remaining at AIK, after admitting to “ struggling with my career for the last two years” while at United. And AIK sporting director Thomas Berntsen is “positive” about the prospect of keeping Coulibaly for longer, either on loan or a permanent deal.

“We have not opened the dialogue with Sheffield United yet,” Bernsten told Fotbollskanalen. “He will be loaned out for the whole of July first. So there are a few games left. We begin to see what he stands for. He had been away for a long time before he came here but now he is starting to get in good shape. We hope he stays here for the whole season. We have a good dialogue with Sheffield and then we will see what we can negotiate if it is possible to have him longer.

Spot a Unitedite you know at Goodison as famous face watches on

“I think that Ismael now that he is starting to get in shape and gets to play in the position that he feels best in, I think that he is positive about staying. Sheffield is on a different planet than us. But now there is only one year left on his contract there so we hope we can work something out. We are positive both about having Ismael on loan for the rest of the year and also about releasing him from his contract there and getting him on a long contract here.”

Asked if the club’s priority was another loan or a permanent agreement, Bernsten added: “It depends a bit. If we're going to buy him, we'll probably have to sell some other players to afford it. We'll see what happens with players out.

“AIK has given notice that we have to sell players this summer. But there is no player here who has a buyout clause. So if we are going to sell players, it will be at the price we think is right. Otherwise, there will be no sales. We have an ambition to be at least as strong this autumn.”