Sheffield Wednesday should be insulted at Rangers & West Ham transfer advances | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday should be furious with the bids made by Rangers and West Ham United to sign goalkeeper Pierce Charles.

Sheffield Wednesday have had a remarkably bizarre start to the 2025/26 season with the Owls going through the mill off the field, but restoring some pride with on-pitch performances.

Dejphon Chansiri has yet to sell the club despite Wednesday having been placed in a transfer embargo, which has now been lifted, the north stand being closed due to disrepair, albeit since reopened, and players leaving as a result of breach of contract due to unpaid wages, such as Michael Smith and Josh Windass.

They played no pre-season matches and have a threadbare squad that is padded out by development squad players, but they have put in a couple of hard-fought performances.

They initially took the lead away at just-relegated Leicester City on the opening day of the campaign before fatigue set in and saw them succumb to a 2-1 loss after captain Barry Bannan was sent off.

Then, in the first round of the EFL Cup, Wednesday put in an excellent performance to eventually defeat Bolton Wanderers on penalties after a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Toughsheet Community Stadium in a game in which Wednesday took the lead on three separate occasions.

However, it hasn’t prevented some clubs from taking advantage of their plight and Sheffield Wednesday, club and supporters, should be livid with the bids put in for Pierce Charles.

Sheffield Wednesday have received insulting bids for Pierce Charles from Rangers and West Ham

It has been reported that both Rangers and West Ham United have made bids for Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Pierce Charles.

Both offers have been said to be in the region of £1 million and Chansiri, and Wednesday have ignored both of the bids.

Earlier this summer, Wednesday sold Djeidi Gassama to Rangers for a fee of £2.2 million and, as shown by his start for Rangers particularly in the UEFA Champions League with goals against Panathinaikos and Viktoria Plzen, that is surely a fee way below Gassama’s market value.

The desperate situation forced Wednesday into that sale, but the club are now ignoring lowball offers for key stars, such as the bids that have been put in for Charles.

Charles, a young goalkeeper and having only just become Wednesday number one towards the end of last season, has proven himself to have truly excellent potential, and is clearly worth more than £1 million in the market.

Sheffield Wednesday have a foundation with Shea Charles

Brother of Shea, who was the Owls’ Player of the Year last season whilst on loan from Southampton, 20-year-old Pierce has emerged as one of the most exciting goalkeepers in the EFL in the last few months.

Having come through the academy at Manchester City, Charles made his debut during the 2023/24 campaign in the FA Cup, but towards the back end of the 2024/25 season, after the dropping of James Beadle, is when he emerged as a potentially brilliant goalkeeper.

The Manchester-born shot stopper has been fast-tracked through to the Northern Ireland senior team, and he has now made eight full caps for Michael O’Neill’s Green and White Army.

What is something that is so pronounced about his game is, aside from his excellent shot stopping and ability to command his box at a young age, but his ball-playing capabilities, which, in the modern game, could end up costing a fortune when fully developed.

Wednesday may be in a position where supporters are ridiculously desperate for a takeover to happen to preserve their very existence, but offers as low as what have come in from Rangers and West Ham remain insulting.

Charles has the potential to make the Owls a serious amount of money and, after already allowing one star to go under value, they shouldn’t, and seemingly aren’t willing to do so again.