Ex-Man United man claims Southampton can receive £40m for Shea Charles

Ex-Man United man Mick Brown claims Southampton can receive about £40m from offloading Shea Charles. Saints should also take inspiration from two 2025 sales.

Two months is a long time in Championship football. Back in February, Southampton just pulled an unbelievable 4-3 turnaround against Leicester City that set the stage for an unbeaten playoffs push which is going way better than any Saints fan had hoped earlier.

Shea Charles was the unlikely hero that day for Tonda Eckert’s men. This statement feels weird nowadays, as the 22-year-old has gone strength to strength in midfield displacing Caspar Jander from the starting lineup in the process.

He pulls the strings in midfield, initiates Southampton’s build up play and possesses a world class striker’s finish inside the final third. It’s no surprise that EA FC 26 included Shea Charles as part of the latest Team of the Week 30 despite him playing in the English second-tier.

Premier League clubs line up for Shea Charles signing

Southampton fans should brace themselves to see Shea Charles more often in future EA FC Team of the Weeks if he keeps operating at his current form. But being real, that also means the 22-year-old’s St. Mary’s days could be numbered.

Shea Charles contract length is still significantly long until 2027, with the option for an automatic renewal till 2028. As much as Southampton will love to see Charles playing at St. Mary’s for longer, there comes a certain point where the financial aspects can’t be ignored.

The club has waited for 4 years until now to see Charles thriving in the first team in multiple midfield roles. All this while, Southampton had to take a bold Sheffield Wednesday loan call over Charles future that could have backfired as well.

Simply put, the Saints deserve a massive paycheck from Shea Charles transfer sale no matter whenever it happens. And a far better one than the supposed £20m Premier League clubs like Manchester United and Everton believe will please Southampton’s transfer chiefs.

Ex-Man United man claims Southampton can receive £40m for Shea Charles

Fortunately for Southampton, ex-Man United figure Mick Brown believes things can turn out better regarding the Shea Charles sale. He insisted that Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace have also shortlisted Charles as a summer target which can play to the Saints strengths.

In his own words, Football Insider quoted Mick Brown adding: “Having more than one club looking to do a deal means they can play them off against each other, who’s going to be the highest bidder? And the price keeps going up. They could double his price tag just through that, it’s something I’ve seen happen before.”

Considering the paltry £20m figure mooted over the past weekend, Southampton can receive about £40m for Charles going by Mick Brown’s comments. Is it a figure Saints should be eyeing for? Probably, more than this.

Still, it’s a good starting point for Southampton to aim for a final transfer fee in the region of £40m-50m for more. Plus, Saints should take a leaf out of the Mateus Fernandes and Tyler Dibling sales conducted just last summer. Neither of them went to a Premier League Big 6 club still Southampton managed to sell them both each for a £42m price point.

It was only possible just because the Saints didn’t lower their transfer stance at all. All along, Southampton remained firm on demanding close to £50m for Mateus Fernandes and an astronomical £100m fee for Tyler Dibling that still makes fans laugh to this day.

A similar trick should be repeated with Shea Charles otherwise, Southampton should keep hold of him beyond this summer with another contract extension.