Sheffield Wednesday: Russell Martin drops Shea Charles hint amid Southampton recall talk | OneFootball

Southampton head coach Russell Martin has hinted that he will not recall midfielder Shea Charles from his loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday.

Southampton head coach Russell Martin has refused to rule out the possibility of recalling midfielder Shea Charles from his loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday in January, but he hinted that he will be allowed to remain at Hillsborough for the season.

Charles made the move to Southampton from Manchester City last summer in a deal that could eventually be worth up to £15 million, and he made 38 appearances in all competitions last season to help Martin's side to promotion from the Championship.

However, Charles was deemed surplus to requirements at St Mary's in the Premier League, and he joined Wednesday on a season-long loan in the final week of the summer transfer window.

Charles has made a huge impact at Hillsborough, starting every league game for the Owls since his arrival, and he was voted as the club's Player of the Month for October after a number of impressive performances.

However, speaking in October, Rohl raised fears that Charles could be recalled by the Saints in January, and that may not be the only threat to Wednesday's hopes of keeping hold of the 21-year-old, with reports emerging last month claiming that Premier League giants Arsenal are keeping tabs on him as a potential future signing.

Russell Martin outlines Southampton's Shea Charles stance

Martin confirmed that Southampton do have the option to recall Charles in January, and he did not shut down the possibility of that happening, but he insisted that he would only bring the midfielder back to St Mary's if he was going to be a regular starter.

"I think Shea went on loan to do exactly what he's done, to play every single week, rather than to be a squad player here," Martin told the Southern Daily Echo.

"It was his first full season last year, we wanted him to build on that. We're really pleased with his development. It's gone exactly how we wanted it to, for him and for us.

"It's gone really well and it continues to go really well. We have another month to assess things. We have an option to recall Shea if we choose to.

"But we're not going to call him back unless he's going to come back in and play and impact the squad and be a big player for us.

"He needs to keep doing what he's doing. We'll continue to assess our situation and what we need but he's never not been in our plans. Same with Sam Edozie.

"We really believe that he will be a big player for us, otherwise we wouldn't have invested so much money in him. He had a really good first season.

"He played a lot of games and impacted a lot of games for us. In his first season as a professional player, he was part of a promotion-winning team.

Wednesday supporters are understandably concerned about the prospect of losing Charles in January, but Martin's words should be reassuring for them.

While Martin did not rule out the possibility of recalling Charles, he said he would only bring him back if he was going to play regularly at St Mary's, and given the strength in depth Southampton currently have in midfield, it seems unlikely he would receive many minutes in their battle against relegation from the Premier League.

It has been an excellent few months for Charles since his loan move, with the midfielder starring for the Owls and becoming Northern Ireland's youngest ever captain during the recent international break, and as Martin says, the Saints have high hopes for him in the future.