I'd be tempted to agree for most of our loan players, but didn't the club want him to stay?
He's someone they've expected big things from, but I thought he wanted to go on loan rather than stay training and only playing irregularly? After an iffy start, he's clearly done pretty well at Sheffield United, so you'd assume that hasn't pushed him further back at City.
I'd expect that at very least he's given pre-season with the team, to see if the advances he's made at Sheffield United have put him closer to the first team here.