The reported Leeds United transfer target has impressed managers at club and international level.
Shea Charles only has two years of senior football under his belt but the reported Leeds United target has impressed at every opportunity, with the verdicts of previous managers a promising sign.
A report from the Daily Mail on Sunday evening named Charles as a possible target for Leeds, suggesting that he is ‘admired’ inside Elland Road. The 21-year-old is currently set to play for parent club Southampton in the Championship but will not be short of Premier League suitors, having been crowned 2024/25 Player of the Season at loan club Sheffield Wednesday in April.
Charles was actually born in Manchester and rose through the ranks at Manchester City, who he joined as a child, before making his one and only first-team appearance in 2023. That was off the bench in a final-day defeat to Brentford and despite the result, manager Pep Guardiola heaped praise on his academy star.
“When you can make your debut, after joining the club at nine years old and grew up to make a debut is the biggest compliment for all the managers he had and the trainers and those that take care of him,” Guardiola said. “I’m pretty sure it’s a big moment for him.
“We know him, he trains quite regularly with us, he’s so good, so composed. For these guys, the best way to give them the opportunity to play is to surround them with the normal team and protection but it’s not easy. Shea Charles against this team with top, top strikers, fast and strong, it’s not the easiest debut.”
What else has been said about Shea Charles?
After helping Southampton pip Leeds to promotion in 2023/24, Charles joined Wednesday on a season-long loan last summer. And such was his influence at Hillsborough that Danny Röhl’s side forked out a reported six-figure fee to take him back on loan in January, following Southampton’s decision to recall.
“I must say that I’m really sad, but this is football,” Röhl told The Star following news of Charles’ recall in January, before he re-joined. “I was hoping until the end that it didn’t happen. I had a conversation with Shea, and I highly rate him because of how he’s developed and improved. He’s a big player for us.
“I’ve seen some really good players at a high level, and what I see at his age - how he’s developed, his open-mindedness and character, his game understanding and intelligence… I’m convinced that he will have a great career in a top division. Lets see... I just have to say again, he’s an outstanding player who gives us something special. It will not be easy to have a solution immediately.”
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Charles’ emerging leader status on loan at Wednesday even earned him the ultimate privilege of captaining Northern Ireland in November, with manager Michael O’Neil previously giving the armband to fellow youngsters Trai Hume and Conor Bradley. And the experienced head coach heaped special praise on the reported Leeds target when explaining his choice.
"For me it was an easy decision," O’Neil said at the time. "Shea is a player who since we put him in the team has taken an enormous amount of responsibility on the pitch for such a young player so putting an armband on him doesn’t change that. I think Shea has the attributes to play at the highest level of the game.
“He also has the temperament to play at the highest level and that’s what you are looking for as a captain. Whether Shea has the armband or not he is always going to be one of your leaders on the pitch. He deserves this opportunity. Since I’ve come in he has been available in every game and basically plays every minute so as a manager what more can you ask?"
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