Declan Devine hopeful of signing David Parkhouse from Sheffield United

The Candy Stripes remain locked in advanced talks with the English Premiership club in an audacious attempt to sign the Northern Ireland U21 striker on a free transfer.

Parkhouse’s loan spell at Hartlepool officially ended on Saturday but he remains under contract with the Blades until the end of the 2022 season at least.

Derry has been in negotiations with Sheffield United for several weeks and while Devine remains hopeful of securing his release in the coming days, he’s been in a similar position before and is reluctant to get excited about the potential deal.

“Obviously we would like to bring David Parkhouse to the club but we’ve been in this situation before,” said Devine.

“This time last year it fell through and until such agreements are made with David or his club, Sheffield United, then things can happen very quickly or a line could be drawn through it again very quickly.

“Yes, we’ve spoken to David Parkhouse and got the ball rolling with Sheffield United to see if there’s anything they would be interested in doing. But with the Christmas break people are only coming back to work in the last day or two.

“It’s not a formality by any stretch,” insisted the City boss. “It’s well documented that my relationship with David has worked in the past and it’s certainly something we would like to do again.

“But there’s a lot of red tape we need to get through before that can happen. So it could happen quickly or it could be put to bed very quickly. That’s the way it is at the minute.”

It’s clear the striker, who scored 19 goals in 39 appearances for Derry during his loan spell in 2019, isn’t in Chris Wilder’s immediate plans with the Blades’ boss promoting 16 year-old forward, Antwoine Hackford to the first team for his Premier League debut against Crystal Palace at the weekend.

Whether or not the club are willing to release him from his contract remains to be seen, but Devine insists all parties agree Parkhouse needs game time.

“The boy certainly needs to get out and play. That’s the one thing where we’re all singing off the one hymn sheet.

“We certainly have spoken to David but there’s a lot of other circumstances in terms of what Sheffield United want and their hold on the player.

“They’re looking at a boy who has a contract with an option of another year. There’s certainly been negotiations taking place but it’s one of those that until there’s something concrete there is absolutely nothing.

“We’ve been here before. We went after David Parkhouse in every single window. Obviously he spent the last year out on loan in England but there’s lots of things that need tidying up before we get to the stage where we can sit down and negotiate.”

Devine also dismissed speculation linking former Finn Harps winger Karl O’Sullivan to the club. The Brandywell outfit did open talks with the player but Devine claims a move is unlikely to be completed during the current transfer window.

“It’s all speculation,” declared Devine. “I don’t think Karl O’Sullivan will be coming to Derry, that’s my honest opinion.

“We certainly spoke to Karl but he has different things he wants to be doing in his life and I don’t think that’s something that is likely to happen.

“We’ve spoken to a lot of players but a lot of players are looking at where the league is at this year and the uncertainty going on.

“Karl is certainly a player I’ve always liked but at the same time I don’t think it’s going to be one for us in this window anyway,” added the Brandywell boss.