Shea Charles became Sheffield Wednesday’s eleventh signing of the summer yesterday.
Sheffield Wednesday hadn’t made any further additions since they brought Ike Ugbo back to the club earlier this month, but they had made it very clear they wanted to bring in a new midfielder.
Nathaniel Chalobah’s injury had left them with few options in the No.6 role and it had so far punished them in the Championship.
The Owls then expressed interest in Gustavo Puerta, who went onto join Hull City.
The Yorkshire outfit quickly turned their attention to Shea Charles though and it was only days later that his loan move from Southampton was confirmed.
The 20-year-old will be eager to establish himself as a regular at Hillsborough after managing only 15 starts for the Saints last season.
One player who will be especially delighted by his arrival is his brother Pierce Charles, who has been at Wednesday since leaving Manchester City’s academy in 2021.
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Shea Charles flooded with messages of support
Following his arrival, Shea took to Instagram to share a message. He wrote: “Delighted to be joining @swfcofficial for the season, can’t wait to get going.”
Pierce was quick to respond, writing: “😁😁😁”.
He wasn’t the only Wednesday player to show support for Shea either, with 19-year-old Rio Shipston writing: “😍😍😍”.
Bailey Cadamarteri, who looks likely to leave on loan, wrote: “Yessir”.
Charlie McNeill, who spent six years in Man City’s academy, wrote: “☺️☺️😍”.
Charles received messages from players elsewhere too, with his Southampton teammate, Will Smallbone, writing: “Good luck mate 🙌”.
Another Southampton youngster said: “😍 smash it bro !”
Liverpool and Northern Ireland defender Conor Bradley wrote: “All the best mate 👏❤️”.
Finally, Northern Ireland international Ethan Galbraith wrote: “Good luck mate 🙌”.
Is the Southampton loanee the missing piece of the puzzle?
If Charles already knews a few of the players at Wednesday then that will surely really help him settle in.
The midfielder could be massively boosted by his return further up north, while the news that Pierce will be staying beyond the summer window will surely help him even further.
The youngster was very highly-rated when he joined Southampton, so it really seems like the Owls could have a really good player on their hands for the next season.
It did feel like that defensive reinforcement in the middle was what Danny Rohl was missing, and hopefully now that he has the final piece to his puzzle, he can really push on into the campaign.
The Star claimed Chalobah ‘should be happy’ with his debut against Grimsby Town last night, so it will be interesting to see whether the 29-year-old is still slightly ahead of Charles in the pecking order ahead of their trip to Millwall.
It could also be a case of neither being fit enough to start, meaning fans could see Rohl forced to make the big decision for their meeting with QPR two weeks later.