Djeidi Gassama quandary will come twice with Sheffield Wednesday starlet still of outside interest
Pierce Charles made his Championship debut for Sheffield Wednesday over the weekend as his rise continues.
The steep rise of Sheffield Wednesday starlet Pierce Charles hit the accelerator once more over the weekend as he was chosen ahead of fellow hotshot goalkeeper James Beadle to make his league debut - as he furthered his potential as a key asset for the club.
The Northern Ireland keeper, who added his fifth and sixth senior international caps to his CV during the recently-passed international break, is one of a handful of young players to have pushed on in senior football since the arrival of Danny Röhl as Owls boss. The German coach has made no guarantees over who will take the gloves for Wednesday’s weekend battle with Hull City on Saturday, though it’s expected Charles will start once more.
Last month Röhl spoke about the decisions facing the club in future windows regarding the future of Djeidi Gassama, making clear that while conversations over whether to follow the blueprint of other clubs in welcoming the big-money sales of young players to reinvest in their squad will be had, the final decision on such a policy will ultimately be made by owner Dejphon Chansiri.
The Star understands Premier League admiration of Charles, 19, has continued and that scouts were in attendance during Northern Ireland’s matches with Switzerland and Sweden late last month. It’s believed some clubs had weighed up an official approach for the stopper in January and that the interest remains. The Star has reason to believe at least one of the interested clubs is in the running for a Champions League place next season - when or whether Wednesday seek to cash in on the likes of Charles and Gassama remains to be seen.
“It is first big credit to Sal Bibbo, our goalkeeping coach,” Röhl said on the progress of Charles. “He helped me to have two fantastic goalkeepers - three with Ben Hamer, we should not forget him because he is also important with the training group - we have big credit for him (Bibbo) to develop Pierce and for me it is about bold decisions like last year, a big decision when I changed the goalkeeper in a tough race. We brought an 18 or 19 year old into a relegation fight.
“It’s the same this year, we cannot just speak about young players and then not give them a chance. I am very happy with him, to have a clean sheet would be better, but we had some good moments and now it’s about the biggest challenge for a young player. It is not one game, a one-hit wonder, it’s about consistently playing on the highest level. For this he has to prepare everything.”