”Hopefully” – Sheffield Wednesday: Danny Rohl responds to Shea Charles, Arsenal transfer talk

Danny Rohl has said that he is hopeful that Sheffield Wednesday will be able to keep Shea Charles until the end of his season-long loan, amid reports linking him with a move to Arsenal or a return to Southampton.

In what has been a middling start to the season for the Owls, Charles, 21, has been one of the shining lights.

The Northern Ireland international has gone from strength to strength since arriving at Hillsborough, allowing club captain Barry Bannan to unlock some more of his attacking potential, and he is now captaining his country at the senior level.

The former Man City player’s talents should come as no shock given the football upbringing that he has had. His first-rate training is starting to show itself on the pitch, and his performances are catching the eye of top flight teams.

Either Arsenal or Southampton could end up taking Charles away from Hillsborough in January, with the former reportedly coming onto the radar of the Gunners as they search for defensive midfield reinforcements.

Danny Rohl responds to Shea Charles, Arsenal and Southampton reports

Wednesday boss Rohl appeared to be optimistic about his side’s chances of holding onto the 21-year-old Southampton loanee for the rest of the season, as per the original agreement.

“For him it is about rhythm, getting a lot of minutes and he has deserved that,” said Rohl of Charles, via The Star.

“Hopefully he will get this season a lot more minutes for us and is helpful for us.”

Arsenal are supposedly interested in Charles, whose profile fits exactly what manager Mikel Arteta wants from his recruitment, according to Spanish outlet Fichajes. Arteta may already know him from his own days working under Pep Guardiola in Manchester.

The Gunners could be one route to Premier League action for the midfielder; another would be if he gets recalled by his parent club, Southampton. They have the option to end his loan spell early and bring him back to the south coast in January.

Given their current Premier League struggles, adding the Northern Ireland captain to his team may not be such a bad thing for Russell Martin.

If either of these moves were to materialise in the winter window, that would mean the Owls would lose their young star. The clubs supporters will be happy to hear, though, that Sheffield Wednesday News have since reported that the Saints are not looking at recalling Charles from his spell at Hillsborough right now.It doesn’t look as though the Gunners will be able to secure a January deal for Charles, with the Saints’ stance emerging.

Rohl stated that these links have come off the back of Charles’ stellar performances in the blue and white-striped shirt of the Owls. The boss added that he wasn’t aware of the reports, but, if he is, then it’s a shame that he’s not the club’s player permanently, as this would then allow them to financially benefit from any big move he made.

Sheffield Wednesday could certainly do with having Shea Charles for the rest of the season

Despite the double-digit number of recruits that Wednesday brought in over the summer, there’s nobody else in Rohl’s arsenal of players that could do the job that Charles can to the same level if he were to go.

They won’t get any financial compensation for losing him in the winter if he does go, which will make replacing him even harder to do.

Wednesday are currently 15th in the league with Cardiff City up next in one of Saturday’s early kick-offs. It’s very congested in and around them, and they need to make sure that they don’t stray too close to those bottom three places.

If Charles is on board, completing that task, and more, will be much easier, and vice versa.

They can’t not afford to lose him, if you excuse the double negative, but it would definitely be a sizeable blow to their hopes of climbing the table.