The news keeps coming thick and fast from Sheffield Wednesday.
Sheffield Wednesday are in increasingly advanced talks with Manchester City over the potential sale of star goalkeeper Pierce Charles, The Star understands.
The prospect of keeping hold of the Northern Ireland number one has been a seemingly ever-decreasing one in recent months, with the talented young stopper attracting interest from a whole host of clubs as he enters the final year of his existing contract with Wednesday. The Star shares the understanding of reports elsewhere that Wednesday are in talks with City, who released him as a teenager before he signed on at Hillsborough, where he signed a first professional contract in 2022.
Wednesday have sought to keep hold of him and entered into contract discussions with the 20-year-old earlier this summer. The keeper has made no secret of his connection with the club but an agreement was always seen as a difficult task given the Owls’ relegation and Charles’ increasing reputation in English football.
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Transfer interest in Charles is nothing new. A whole host of clubs at home and abroad are believed to have re-registered their admiration for the goalkeeping prodigy, with French club Strasbourg understood to be among those to make their interest known alongside a number of clubs in the Premier League and Championship. Charles, whose profile as a classy ball-playing goalkeeper makes him a hot commodity, has been of reported interest to clubs in the Bundesliga previously.
It wasn’t always considered that City would be his most likely destination over the last weeks, though Enzo Maresca’s men appear to have come on strong in the last week or so. Their goalkeeper James Trafford is reportedly set for a move to Tottenham Hotspur.
It is understood that as things stand a deal is not done and there is still a road to be run on Charles’ mooted return to the Etihad Campus. The Star is told the 12-cap international has not yet been present at Middlewood Road for Wednesday’s pre-season programme due to his international involvement during the summer but should he remain an Owls player in the meantime, he is expected to report to St George’s Park for next week’s training camp.
A likely fee is not yet known, though Wednesday will no doubt hold out for a large sum given Charles’ profile. It is also likely they will look to negotiate favourable add-ons.
Speaking earlier today, new Owls sporting director Simon Wilson said on the prospect of keeping Charles: “I hope so. We’re trying and again, it comes into that situation where it’s a three-way thing. As soon as we decided we want to keep him, he’s got to want to stay and there might be offers that are out there that we at this moment in time can’t compete with; and that might be salary or it might be level of competition.
“These are young, ambitious guys that want to play at the top of their profession and sometimes you can’t hold people back from that, as much as they might love the club - as Svante did and does. He wanted to go and play at the highest level he can do and you can’t begrudge him for being ambitious. You have to be practical.”
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