Sheffield Wednesday should sign player set to leave West Brom | OneFootball

Joe Wildsmith is set to leave West Brom this summer, and Sheffield Wednesday should be doing all they can to entice him back to Hillsborough

Sheffield Wednesday will be incurring a real struggle to keep star goalkeeper Pierce Charles at Hillsborough this summer.

The 20-year-old Northern Ireland international showed glimpses of brilliance last season in between the sticks when fit, making a hatful of saves each game to make outings involving the cash-strapped, gutted Wednesday side more competitive than many expected.

Charles is highly recognised as one of the hottest young goalkeeping prospects, so with Sheffield Wednesday set to begin life back in League One this summer, teams from higher up the pyramid will be lurking to bring the shot-stopper in.

Despite that, though, the Owls have opened talks with their first-choice keeper over an improved contract. If they can tie him down to fresh terms, it would be a real statement of intent, not only in terms of their upcoming third-tier campaign, but it would show that David Storch and the rest of the Arise consortium are serious about keeping the club's best players on their books.

If they do lose him, though, they can't be too down. Especially if they get a good fee for him, and they replace him with someone who won promotion from League One the last time he played there.

Sheffield Wednesday should eye a Joe Wildsmith return ahead of the League One campaign

Joe Wildsmith is still currently in Middlesbrough training, as Kim Hellberg looks to keep his side ready for a potential play-off final, depending on the results of the spygate hearing.

However, once his loan spell with Boro ends, the 30-year-old will be a free agent, as West Brom's retained list stated that the goalkeeper won't be getting a contract extension with the Baggies and will leave in the summer.

Wildsmith has acted as Middlesbrough's backup since arriving on deadline day in February, with Sol Brynn ever-present, and while there may be interest in maintaining that bench role next season, if he were instead to look for first-team football, a return to Sheffield Wednesday would be optimal.

The Sheffield-born shot-stopper began his career with his boyhood club, signing his first professional contract with the Owls in November 2013 and staying at the club until 2022.

Wildsmith was never recognised as the number one at Hillsborough, especially during Kieran Westwood's time at the club. The Irishman's persistent groin issues did open the door for appearances, though, and he ended up making 66 league appearances and 89 in all competitions.

But a desire to play more football led him to reject fresh terms in 2022, and he left for Derby County, a move he admitted in March 2024 was the "best thing" for his career at the time.

There, he played the most games, holding down the number one spot for two years until he joined West Brom a couple of years ago. First-team football hasn't come his way in that time, though, and it may be time for him once again to search for that. Perhaps it may come his way at Hillsborough.

Joe Wildsmith would bring a promotion pedigree to Sheffield Wednesday next season

Wildsmith didn't just move to a Derby side that needed a number one; he made sure to earn his position in Paul Warne's starting eleven, showing Sheffield Wednesday what they were missing in the process.

At Pride Park, the 30-year-old played every minute in the league in his first season, keeping 17 clean sheets as the Rams just missed out on the play-offs.

The year after, Derby would secure automatic promotion, and Wildsmith won the Golden Glove, keeping 20 clean sheets in just 40 games, and conceding 31 goals. Granted, Paul Warne's side were incredible at the back, but they still had to call on him to save points here and there.

That 2023/24 campaign was the last that the departing West Brom goalkeeper played in League One, so if Wednesday were able to tempt him back over to his hometown, they'd automatically have one of the bigger names in goal next season.

At 30, he'd provide good leadership and experience to a currently quite young Wednesday squad, while just entering what many perceive to be the prime years of a goalkeeper's career, so he'd add quality, too.