Sheffield Wednesday: Worrying Pierce Charles update emerges | OneFootball

The keeper played with an injured shoulder against Stoke City last weekend.

Pierce Charles could be out of action for a period as his shoulder injury is worse than originally thought.

The goalkeeper has been the standout performer on the pitch for the Owls so far this season.

He has, by far and away, had to make the most saves of any player of his position in the Championship - 6.5 per game at a success rate of 72 per cent.

Wednesday sit on zero points after their only two league matches of the season so far, against Leicester City and Stoke City, but the scorelines in both matches, plus their win over Bolton Wanderers in the EFL Cup, could have been much worse had Charles not been in net.

Extent of Pierce Charles' injury revealed

Worryingly for Henrik Pedersen, the Northern Irish international may be forced out of the starting lineup due to an injury he picked up before facing Stoke at Hillsborough. Charles managed to get through the club's first home game of the season, but, according to The Star, scans have shown the issue to be greater than they expected it to be.

If the 20-year-old is unable to take the field for this Saturday's trip to Wrexham, and the subsequent contests, Pedersen would be forced into playing a youth-team shot-stopper as, despite his age, Charles is the only senior player in his position in Wednesday's squad.

There is a chance that the Owls could lose the highly-rated prospect through other means than injury this summer as a number of teams are interested in signing Charles. French side RC Strasbourg have already had a £2 million offer rejected by the Owls for the glovesman, as per The Star. They reportedly want closer to £8 million for him.

Strasbourg would be willing to loan Charles back to the Championship side and cover his wages in order to facilitate a permanent move for the Wednesday academy graduate. This would be a big help financially for the Owls, who are no longer under any EFL embargoes.

However, the money used to clear the debts that caused these punishments was from the Premier League's solidarity payments, so there is a chance that the owner, Dejphon Chansiri, won't be able to cover future wages with the cash that is currently available to him.

Sheffield Wednesday are in a very tough spot with Pierce Charles

Losing Charles to another club by way of a sale may be one of the few ways that Wednesday can avoid any such breaches of financial rules, but it would be a painful one nonetheless.

The same goes if he is on the sideline for any extended period. He is one of the few players in that team that you feel could singlehandedly pick up points for the Owls because of his sheer talent and ability between the sticks.

Arguably, losing him to injury would be worse than a sale, at least for now, because Wednesday wouldn't stand to gain any financial rewards from him not playing for them. Either way, it'll be a sad sight to not see Charles on the pitch for the club.