How former Chelsea youngster Charles Hagan ended up signing for Sheffield Wednesday

But how did he end up in Sheffield in the first place? It turns out the Owls won a race to bring him on board despite interest from elsewhere in Bournemouth and a potential trial at Wolverhampton Wanderers on the cards.

Hagan, now 19, has been with Wednesday since 2018, and in 2020 signed his first professional contract at Hillsborough before going on to make his professional debut a few months later as a substitute against Premier League opponents, Fulham.

Darren Moore is set to have a much closer look at the young attacker in preseason should he pen the contract extension that he’s currently mulling over.

The pacey youngster ended the season on a high with the U23s after overcoming a few injury concerns earlier in the campaign, but he says that he almost didn’t end up signing in Sheffield at all.

Speaking to The Ballers Club Podcast, the teenager explained, “Bournemouth said after my trial that they wanted to sign me straight away… So we knew we had that under the belt.

“Then we went to Sheffield Wednesday and they were being really nice to me. I was training with their U23s at 16, and one of the days I ripped it up when they’d organised a session to see what I was about.

“It was like 1 v 1s and stuff, the stuff I thrive at, and even on the defensive side I was getting me arm across people. They saw I could deal with older guys, and the next day I did the same thing. I just seemed to be gelling there. A couple of days later they said they wanted to offer me a deal.

Alex Hunt breaks silence on extending his Sheffield Wednesday stay

“I was meant to go to Wolves, but I couldn’t stay in a hotel by myself because I was too young… But at this point I was mentally exhausted, so my agent spoke to both Bournemouth and Wednesday and said we wanted some security…

“Bournemouth said they didn’t do early professional contracts, and that’s when Wednesday came - and they didn’t even hesitate… With them I had three years in the bag, and that’s why I decided to go with them.”

The club confirmed earlier this month that they had tabled a contract offer to try and keep Hagan at the club next season, however at this point in time there has been no confirmation as to whether he will be at Middlewood Road when preseason begins in a few weeks’ time.

If he does stay, however, h is one of the young players expected to get a shot at first team football following relegation into League One, with the likes of Alex Hunt, Ciaran Brennan, Liam Waldock, Ryan Galvin and Declan Thompson among those looking to try and make an impact in 2021/22.

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