Rohl responds to Arsenal links with Charles

Shea Charles has played more than 80 minutes in 11 of his 12 Owls appearances this season

Danny Rohl says it’s a 'pity' Sheffield Wednesday do not own Shea Charles, with the on-loan midfielder reportedly attracting interest from Arsenal.

Charles, who turned 21 this month, is on loan from Premier League Southampton but has caught the eye with a series of impressive displays in the Championship and for Northern Ireland.

He moved to St Mary’s for a reported £15m in 2023 after coming through the Manchester City academy, making one first team appearance under Pep Guardiola, in a defeat at Brentford in May 2023.

Reports in Spain claim Arsenal are monitoring the midfielder with Gunners manager Mikel Arteta having previously coached at City during Charles' development.

Rohl told BBC Radio Sheffield: "He’s a young, high-potential player – the pity is that he is not our player."

Charles moved to Southampton ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, making 32 appearances in the Championship but only completing 90 minutes on 10 occasions, and only twice in the final 21 games.

He played one minute off the bench for Russell Martin across all three play-off games as the Saints ensured promotion and was allowed to join Wednesday on a season-long loan in August.

Since his arrival Charles has played all but 50 minutes across the Owls’ 12 Championship games and scored a memorable injury-time winner at Coventry.

"He’s a key player for us," added Rohl. "If he is linked with big teams, I’m not sure how many players at Sheffield Wednesday were linked with big teams.

"The pity is that he is not our player. If he’s our player, fantastic. But when I decided in the summer to take him, I saw something in him. He’s got a lot of minutes, he deserves it.”

Rohl hopes the success of the loan might help the club attract other Premier League talent in the January transfer window.

"It’s not always just to convince the players… for me at the moment it’s a big (thing) to get some good players from Premier League clubs to improve our level," he said.

"We have a lot of players on a similar level. To win more games, and to win the important games, to win close games you need high-end quality.

"This is what we have to work on. I think we will do this in the next few weeks. Let’s see what we can do."