It was confirmed today (Friday) that Simmo had penned a two-year contract at Bramall Lane and that he deputises the vacant goalkeeping position which was left by money-grabbing Paddy Kenny. The FREE transfer of Simonsen to the Blades seemed to take an age to actually be ratified, but finally he's here.
The 31-year-old was, of course, on loan at United for the latter stages of last season and he 'thoroughly enjoyed' his time at S2. He returned to the Brittania Stadium when his loan at Bramall Lane expired, and there was no surprise that Kevin Blackwell was back in for the shot-stopper, this time on a permanent!
It wasn't easy securing the services of him, though. There was reports that other teams had scuppered United's talks with the goalie, but all is now well. The keeper says that the rebuliding of the squad at the Lane is 'well-balanced' and that he has experience on his side. Simmo did win promotion with Tony Pulis' men to the top flight in the 2007/2008 campaign.
On joining, Simmo said: "I had a clause in my contract that allowed me to move on if I got the right offer and I activated that clause on Wednesday. Thankfully, Stoke did everything they could to help.
"I knew of United's interest when Paddy Kenny left but there wasn't much we could do about it until July came around and, thankfully, it has all happened so quickly.
"This was my first choice, I know what the place is about and enjoyed it last season. It is a great club and I see no reason why the team can't improve on last season, after all, it is shaping up to be a well-balanced and settled squad with a heck of a lot of knowledge about the Championship.
"I have come to a club where I'm going to be playing football and it is an added bonus that it's at a club that has a real chance of promotion.
"Obviously I heard about 'Morgs' and 'Monty' renewing their deals, and Richard Cresswell agreeing to lengthen his contract.
"They are valuable players for any club and keeping them erases a lot of question marks. And the arrival of Leon Britton, Daniel Bogdanovic and Johnny Ertl should have given everyone a boost because they are well-regarded additions."
He went on: "I've won promotion from the Championship before and other lads here have done the same so we have good experience.
"It is a tough league to get out of but, maybe, this is one of the best years to try and win promotion. There were two strong teams last season and they are out of it now, whilst the three to come down have got their various problems which opens the door for others.
"The red and white half of this city is fanatical about their football. They were gutted about not reaching the play-offs last season but there were problems and this season will hopefully be a lot smoother.
"We've got a very good squad coming into place and at the very least we are looking at the play-offs."
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