Sheffield Wednesday: Danny Rohl hints at Hillsborough exit for 21-year-old | OneFootball

The summer signing has been given limited opportunities since signing for the Owls.

Danny Rohl has hinted that there is a chance that Charlie McNeill could leave Sheffield Wednesday on loan in January after admitting that he can't guarantee minutes for the striker.

In what was a busy summer for the blue side of the Steel City, McNeill was the one, of their double-digit number of acquisitions, that stood out as a player that was brought in not necessarily for the here and now.

Even James Beadle, who is a year younger than the former Manchester United forward (20 and 21), was signed to be the club's number one choice between the sticks. McNeill, meanwhile, was much more of a project player.

He has only made two appearances since his debut against Hull City in the EFL Cup in mid-August. All of his game time for the Owls has come in cup competitions - he is yet to play in the Championship for Wednesday.

Danny Rohl makes Charlie McNeill January loan move possibility

There is a chance that the 21-year-old will move on to somewhere else in the new year, as the Wednesday boss has admitted that he can't bank on McNeill getting a certain amount of time on the pitch.

Speaking ahead of his side's trip to face Derby County, Rohl said: "In the last weeks he was sometimes in the squad, sometimes not. And I think it was a conversation with Charlie, I said, ‘At the moment, if you are in the squad then it’s the next small step, because then you trained good, I see this’.

"Then it’s a little bit hard who starts up front. This also impacts who is then on my bench. Of course, we are not ‘happy happy’ at the moment, because we want to improve so that he gets more minutes.

"At the moment, I can’t guarantee him this. But I see in his development as a person, a good step. I see that he works very hard every day. It’s not like that he is too disappointed and he is negative, no, he is hard-working.

"We can look in January. He is fit, he can play minutes, then we will see what makes sense.

"In January, it’s a topic where we sit together, and then hopefully we make the best decision for everybody."

If McNeill were to make a temporary switch, it wouldn't be the first of his career. While with Man United, he spent time with Newport County in League Two, in the latter half of the 2022/23 campaign, and with Stevenage in League One, for the first half of last season.

Charlie McNeill loan move makes sense for all parties

A player of the forward's age needs to play regularly in order to develop into the talent that they can be. McNeill has talent in abundance - he wouldn't have made it through the Red Devils' academy without it - but it's hard for that to be unlocked if all you're doing is training and playing the odd reserve game here and there.