Danny Rohl has acknowledged that he has high hopes for Sheffield Wednesday to sign a new contract with one “fantastic” teenager.
The final three games of the season will determine what happens, but Sheffield Wednesday is headed into what could be an incredibly stressful time of the year.
The Owls have made a comeback under Danny Rohl, but their future in the Championship is still uncertain, and they might not find out if they have been demoted until the very last day.
The majority of contract negotiations have been postponed because the club is focused on surviving, even though the contracts of over ten players are set to expire this summer.
Not knowing where they will be in a few months, Josh Windass, Di’Shon Bernard, and Barry Bannan—three important players—are expected to fight relegation even though they may be on their way out.
They haven’t started talks with the majority of their first-team players yet, but they have already started with one academy star.
Pierce Charles came from Manchester City to join Sheffield Wednesday’s academy in 2021, and the following year he signed his first professional contract.
The 18-year-old participated in the replay two weeks after making his FA Cup debut as a senior player at the beginning of the year.
Charles hasn’t featured since but is very highly-rated at Middlewood Road, with the club eager to tie him down to a new contract. It is believed the goalkeeper’s current deal expires in 2025 and the two parties have already begun initial talks, however it is believed that they have already stalled.
Danny Rohl hopes the Owls keep ‘fantastic’ gem
With Charles’ future in doubt, Rohl has spoken out on the young shot-stopper. Speaking to The Star, the German coach said: “Pierce for me is a fantastic goalkeeper. He has a lot of good things that I like, he can keep the ball in possession, he’s good in open play, he’s good building up from the back. He’s a good goalkeeper and I like him.
“He has made some really good improvements and developments in the last months and from my side I hope he is part of my team in the new season. We have a good goalkeeper group with experience and two young boys. They also have experience themselves more and more. I watch how they train, the battle in training and they challenge themselves.
“I hope we can keep Pierce here and then we can think about what is important. If it makes sense to have him here or the time or whether we look to loan him. This is a different question, but we should try to keep him.”
Pierce Charles’ competition could all leave this summer
Sheffield Wednesday face losing a long list of players this summer, but one key position that may concern them is the goalkeeping department. The Owls are facing a bit of a crisis in between the sticks, with James Beadle set to return to Brighton & Hove Albion at the end of his loan spell. Cameron Dawson is likely to leave Hillsborough on a free transfer, leaving Pierce Charles and 19-year-old Jack Hall as their only ‘keepers.
Given that Beadle is only a year older than him and has enjoyed great success at Wednesday, Charles will be eager to make his mark on the first team next season too. It is extremely likely that the Owls will bring in some more experienced shot-stoppers though and could look to loan out the teenager instead, but first they will have to tempt him to remain at the club. Wednesday’s current goalkeeper situation does give Charles a big opportunity to prove himself and the club need to convince him that he has a future with the senior squad if he puts pen to paper on a new deal.
Leave a Reply