Bresc is believed to to be desperate to leave Palermo after his move to the EPL a year ago fell through at the last moment and he ended up on the sidelines at the Serie A side.

He had been tipped to join fellow Socceroo Dave Carney at the Blades on an $8m switch - but manager Kevin Blackwell has ruled it out after looking at the salary and transfer fees involved.

He told the Sheffield Star: "I keep hearing all of these names being banded about but, to be honest, I've never even heard of half of them.

"I know about the lad from Italy (Bresciano), but the figures being quoted are way beyond us."