Shea Charles says he does not give much thought to the £30m price tag that made him the most expensive Northern Ireland footballer ever, describing the record as “quite crazy” but insisting it is not something that occupies his mind.
The Fulham midfielder, speaking to BBC Sport NI before Northern Ireland’s four-game Nations League run, admitted the milestone took him by surprise. “I think I was like second or third before that. But to be number one, it’s really cool. Just to be in the Premier League and just being able to play my football is amazing,” he said. “For me, I don’t really think about it too much, and you see what a lot of people are going for these days, it’s kind of crazy.”
Charles completed the move from Championship side Southampton in the summer, a transfer that took him up a division and into the Premier League. He points to his home life and friendships as the reason the attention around the fee has not unsettled him. “I’ve just got really good people around me, living with my younger brother and my older brother, mum and dad. I’ve got a really good friendship group that keep me grounded,” he said.
Attention now turns away from club football. The 22-year-old is part of Michael O’Neill’s squad for fixtures against Georgia home and away, Hungary and Ukraine. Already capped 35 times since his debut in June 2022, he believes international football has been central to his development. “International football has always been massive for me ever since I made my debut – the types of players you play against, the teams you are playing, you rarely got to play against them when you’re playing in the Championship,” he said. “Being able to show your level against those kind of players was always going to help.”
He also credited O’Neill for the faith shown in him, including handing him the captain’s armband on occasion. “I feel like he has really trusted me from the moment that I came in, starting me in any game that he could really, and I’m obviously very thankful for that,” Charles said. “I feel like Michael has given me a bit of responsibility, especially taking the armband a couple of times, so I just try to set an example, whether that’s on the pitch or off the pitch, and just be someone the young lads can look up to.”
At club level, Charles has featured in all five of Fulham’s Premier League matches this season, starting three of them, including draws against Liverpool and Manchester United. Fulham sit 19th in the table with two draws and three defeats so far. “Whether it was with Southampton or by getting a move the aim was always to get back to the Premier League,” he said. “It’s really exciting and I’ve settled in really well. It’s a really good club and when I spoke to the manager we saw football in the same way.” Of the meeting with Manchester United, he added: “It was a really good game and I thought we were unlucky not to win the game. To play in a game like that so early after my move was really good.”
Charles is not the only member of his family in the Northern Ireland set-up. His brother Pierce, a goalkeeper on loan at Queen’s Park Rangers from Manchester City after a summer switch, is also part of the squad. “It’s kind of the stuff of dreams to play with your brother on the international stage,” Charles said. “When you’re playing teams like France and Italy and he’s playing alongside you it’s really cool. We’re really close, we played football together when we were younger, we’ve always been best mates.”
English-born Charles qualifies for Northern Ireland through his mother, who he says follows her sons’ careers closely. “She is dead proud, you can see on her face when you see her in the crowd at Windsor Park in particular,” he said. “I can’t remember the last one she has missed at Windsor Park. She is there all the time. She was in Italy and she tries to get to as many away games as possible.” He added that he promised her as a child that he and Pierce would play for Northern Ireland, a commitment he feels he has honoured.
Looking ahead with the national team, Charles believes the group has room to grow. “The potential is definitely there” for the squad “to prove how good we are”, he said. “It’s a really tight-knit group, everyone gets along. Whenever any new boys come in I always feel like they fit in so well. When you get the likes of Ceadach [O’Neill] and Braiden [Graham] coming in you begin to feel that little bit older. It’s a really good group.”