RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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"Shea has been so, so impressive during my time working with him. I have never seen anyone better on the ball than this kid."
It was in 2021 that the Northern Ireland youth coach Gerard Lyttle said he had never seen a youngster as comfortable on the ball as Shea Charles.
Back then, the teenager was still playing at centre-back and had yet to make a senior appearance for club or country, but he was standing out to his coaches.
Five years later, midfielder Charles has become the most expensive Northern Ireland player in history after he completed a £30m transfer from Southampton to Premier League side Fulham .
From coming through at Manchester City , to becoming one of Michael O'Neill's most important players on the international scene, the 22-year-old has taken the long way round to a top-flight return.
From when he joined Manchester City 's academy as a seven-year-old, Charles' potential was clear and he quickly progressed through the ranks.
His breakout year came in the 2021-22 season, when he helped City win the Premier League 2 title as an 18-year-old playing alongside the likes of Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Nico O'Reilly.
He was handed a first Northern Ireland call-up for June's Nations League window in 2022, and he made his international debut as a late substitute against Greece before he had even made a senior appearance at club level.
It was somewhat unexpected given his lack of experience, but it showcased the belief that then manager Ian Baraclough showed in Charles.
"I hope I can just push on from here and get more caps. It was a great feeling to make my debut," Charles said at the time.
"I didn't expect to be playing in this game, but I will take every chance as it comes."
Charles has certainly done that, establishing himself as a key player for Michael O'Neill, who returned as manager later in 2022 to replace Baraclough.
In fact, Charles has only missed three matches since then. One was for a suspension following a red card against Slovenia, while his absence with a hamstring injury was notable in the closing World Cup qualifiers with Slovakia and Luxembourg in November last year.
For Lyttle, having worked with Charles at age-group level with Northern Ireland, there was never any doubting his potential.
"Honestly, he is so calm, I actually haven't seen him get out of second gear yet and that is no joke - there is even more in him," Lyttle added in his 2021 interview with BBC Sport.
"He plays with such a calmness, sees a pass, breaks lines, is technically very good, can hit long and short and can compete physically. He is just a proper ball-playing centre-back and a real good kid as well.
"As he goes up the levels he needs to keep progressing, but from what I've seen of young Shea he definitely has all the attributes."
It helped that Charles was learning from some of the best in the world. At Manchester City he had been training with the likes of Rodri and Fernandinho and was finally handed a Premier League chance in May 2023, by which stage he had six international caps under his belt.
Pep Guardiola's side had already wrapped up the Premier League title, and Charles made his City debut as a second-half substitute against Brentford on the final day of the season.
"When we train with the first team the standard is so high and we are always learning, every day," Charles said in 2022.
"With the likes of Rodri and Fernandinho, it is tough but enjoyable."
While learning from the best players in the world was beneficial, it did not offer a natural path of progression to the first team at Etihad Stadium.
So, a month after making his City debut, Charles signed a four-year contract with Southampton and subsequently made 32 appearances as Saints won promotion back to the Premier League.
Instead of contributing in his club's top-flight return, his development continued with a loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday, where he became a fan favourite and drew links to Arsenal .
"He's a young, high-potential player – the pity is that he is not our player," said Wednesday's manager at the time, Danny Rohl, about his loan star during his early days at Hillsborough.
Midway through his season with the Owls, Charles was handed the Northern Ireland armband by O'Neill just 10 days after his 21st birthday, the youngest player to captain the country since Terry Neill in 1963.
"Shea has got the attributes to play at the highest level of the game, and the temperament to do so, and that is what you look for as a captain," O'Neill said at the time.
"Whether he has the armband or not, he is going to be a leader on the pitch."
With Southampton back in the Championship after their relegation, Charles returned to St Mary's last season.
He contributed some big moments and chipped in with his biggest return in front of goal with six strikes in the campaign.
Moments such as his winner against eventual Premier League champions Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-finals, or a goal against Liverpool at Anfield in the EFL Cup, will live long in the memory on the south coast.
He also netted in the Championship play-off semi-final win over Middlesbrough with a goal that would have taken the Saints to Wembley, only for the club to be denied at shot at the top flight after the Spygate drama.
While Southampton missed out on the Premier League, O'Neill was adamant that Charles has what it takes to play in the top flight. It was a matter of when, not if.
"Shea can play in the Premier League, there's no doubt about that," said Charles' international boss before June's friendlies with Guinea and France.
It was in the France game that Charles showed he belonged among the elite players, not looking out of place against a side who went on to be World Cup semi-finalists.
It was the same against Italy in March's World Cup play-off, where he was arguably the best player on the pitch against Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Barella despite the 2-0 defeat which ended NI's dreams of reaching the finals.
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