Russell Martin has openly spoken about the possibility of bringing Shea Charles, currently on loan at Sheffield Wednesday, back to Southampton.
Southampton are bottom of the Premier League table. As it stands, they are the obvious favourites to go back down to the Championship. It goes without saying, though, that Russell Martin would prefer to avoid this fate.
After all, the Saints worked tirelessly to ensure their promotion back to the English top flight. They were fortunate enough to qualify through the playoffs, so it was a breath of fresh air to return to the Premier League.
That said, the start to this season has been woeful, to say the least. Therefore, Martin will be eager to improve his squad in the January transfer window.
Russell Martin speaks about bringing Shea Charles back to Southampton
Speaking to the Daily Echo, Russell Martin was asked about potentially bringing Shea Charles back to Southampton, cutting his loan deal short. To which, Martin said there would have to be certain conditions met to make such a decision.
In his own words, Russell Martin said: “It’s gone exactly how we wanted it to , for him and for us... 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."
This is a brilliant and transparent update from Russell Martin. It goes without saying that Shea Charles is a promising player, he has proven this while on loan in South Yorkshire. However, recalling him from his loan might hinder his progression - Martin has made a note of this.
It is easy for fans to become excited by players performing well on loan. However, it is equally as important for the manager to remain level-headed and assess what is best for the future progression of Shea Charles. If he deems it necessary, then Shea will continue to develop at Wednesday.
As it stands, Shea Charles is happy at Sheffield Wednesday. While he will be excited about being a Southampton mainstay one day, right now the best place for him is to be out on loan. As Martin addressed, he would risk being a bench-warmer if he came back to Southampton so soon.