Wrexham look set to suffer a big transfer blow by missing out on goalkeeper Pierce Charles to QPR.
Charles is poised to join Manchester City from Sheffield Wednesday in a £10million move before being loaned out to QPR, one of Wrexham’s Championship rivals.
Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Pierce Charles, wearing an orange shirt, handles the ball
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Charles made 19 Championship appearances for Sheffield Wednesday last seasonCredit: Getty
A shining light in a dark season
The 20-year-old shone in an incredibly tough season for Wednesday as they were relegated from the Championship amid severe financial difficulties, finishing bottom of the table with 0 points having begun the campaign with an 18-point deduction and not winning at home until the final day.
And as the Owls prepare to rebuild in League One under new ownership, Charles is heading back to his hometown club.
The Northern Ireland international began his youth career with Man City before joining Wednesday and eventually breaking into the South Yorkshire club’s first team.
The younger brother of Southampton midfielder and fellow Northern Ireland international Shea Charles, Pierce established himself as Wednesday’s number one last term.
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And his impressive performances have earned him a move to the eight-time Premier League champions.
Charles made his senior Northern Ireland debut in a Nations League clash against Belarus in 2024.
He’s gone on to earn 12 caps, featuring in the Green and White Army’s World Cup play-off defeat to Italy in March – where he faced one of his prospective new teammates, Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Man City currently have three goalkeepers on their books, with No1 Donnarumma backed up by James Trafford and Marcus Bettinelli.
Wrexham are reported to have made a late approach for Charles, but QPR appear to have won the race to secure his services on loan.
Both Wrexham and QPR will be hoping to mount a promotion push in 2026/27, the Welsh side having missed out on last season’s Championship play-offs by two points on the final day.
Wrexham's Josh Windass, on his knees on the pitch, looks dejected at the end of the match against Middlesbrough
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Wrexham's final-day draw with Middlesbrough ended their play-off hopesCredit: Getty
Wrexham and QPR getting ready to go again
Wrexham, who became the first club in England’s top five tiers ever to achieve three successive promotions, have never played top-flight football – but that is the ambition of their owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
QPR, meanwhile, have remained in the Championship since relegation from the Premier League 11 years ago.
The West London outfit finished 15th in the second tier last term; they haven’t made the play-offs since winning them in 2014.
The new Championship campaign gets underway across the weekend of 14-17 August.
Wrexham, who have just announced a major new shirt sponsorship deal with web browser Firefox, open up with a Welsh derby away to Cardiff City, while QPR travel to Portsmouth.
Before that, Wrexham and QPR take on Middlesbrough and Millwall respectively in the first round of the EFL Cup.