Latest transfer news from Hillsborough...
Goalkeeper Pierce Charles has completed his move to Manchester City and immediately joined Championship side QPR on loan.
The 20-year-old Northern Ireland international came through the ranks at City before being released but now makes his return. He signed his first professional contract at Sheffield Wednesday in 2022 and has made 36 appearances in total.
As reported by The Wednesday Word, The Star shares the understanding that The Owls can expect a minimum £5m return on the deal, with £3m paid up-front. Should Charles go on to tick off all the achievements on a bonus structure, a total fee somewhere in the region of £10m is possible.
Charles, whose impressive distribution caught the eye of many, has 12 caps for his county. He was Wednesday’s number one last season and would have made more outings than his 27 in the Championship had it not been for a couple of injuries. The talented stopper was edging towards a sale to Ligue 1 club Strasbourg in January before a shoulder injury halted that deal.
Efforts were made to sign Charles to a new deal at S6 but with Wednesday now in League One and with only one year left on his contract, it was always going to be a tough ask to deny him a move to City, although he will be at QPR next season.
Speaking before the move was sealed, Owls sporting director, Simon Wilson, said: “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 (Ingelsson) 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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