Sheffield Wednesday hoping for loan exit as an ‘ideal scenario’ – other departures also possible

The big 20-year-old goalkeeper is back playing for the Owls’ U21s again after an injury meant that he missed months of football, and the club are hoping to get a club for him to join on loan as part of his development.

Jackson has a long-term deal at Hillsborough having impressed at youth level, and is one of three highly-rated shot-stoppers at the club alongside Jack Hall (18) and Pierce Charles (17).

Neil Thompson, one of the coaches helping with the trio’s progression, says that their young goalkeeping department is in great shape – but suggested that a loan could be on the cards for the oldest of the three.

Speaking to The Star, ‘Thommo’ said, “Jack has been injured recently, Pierce Charles has been up with the first team a lot recently, and we try and balance the games out so that they all get game time.

“With Luke being the oldest one, I think the ideal scenario for him moving forward is going out and getting that loan experience - but that takes a bit of time to do and somebody has to come in and say they’ll take him.

“For us it’s nice to have three goalkeepers at a good level… Who’s going to be the best? That’s up to them. They’re all good lads who work hard. The goalkeeping department looks really healthy.”

Jackson may not be the only one in Thompson’s U21s that could head out in the coming months though, with a few having started to outgrow their age group and reached a point where more intensity is required.

When asked if others could also leave on loan, the U21s boss said, “I think so, the ones that you look at are the older ones - the ones that have played U23s football, and now they need to go and play men’s football in front of a crowd on a Saturday afternoon when three points are really vital for whichever club they’re at. They need to experience that.

“We’ve got a couple of games in November, and ideally we want to get one or two of them out on loan, so we’ll see what happens.”

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