Beattie, 33 has been without a club since the summer when Scottish outfit Glasgow Rangers allowed him to leave Ibrox. He came for talks with United two months ago but after revealing that he wasn’t currently fit was asked to come back later.
He has since been training with League One rivals AFC Bournemouth but returned to Sheffield last week to train with the Blades and hold talks with manager Danny Wilson.
"James knows the situation of the club and he wants to come here and that is good enough for me," said Wilson in the Sheffield Star.
"There are no massive wage demands from the boy, none whatsoever. He wants to come and play football. Money doesn't come into the equation. The fact he wants to play football and come to Sheffield United is good enough for me.
"We will see how it goes. There is nothing set in the stone. We want to get him to a certain level of fitness where he can compete and he is nowhere near there at the moment. The good thing is that James knows that. We will see how it goes. It might not work out. If we give him an intense fitness programme, it might not suit him. We don't know. Rest assured, we will do our best to get him on the pitch."
Beattie came to Bramall Lane under the leadership of Bryan Robson in August 2007 for £4,000,000 from Everton and scored on his debut against Colchester United (drew 2-2) – towards the end of the season he netted a hat-trick against relegation bound Leicester City at the Lane.
He finished the season with 22 goals and in January 2009 moved to Stoke City in a £3,500,000 deal having made 60 (+5) league and cup appearances and scored 34 goals in toll.