Pierce Charles has the numbers to prove why Rangers should axe Jack Butland
Pierce Charles put up hugely impressive numbers for Sheffield Wednesday in 2025-26, handing Rangers a straightforward decision to swap him for Jack Butland.
The 20-year-old shot-stopper is one of the brightest young goalkeepers in English football outside of the Premier League, and looks to have a very exciting future ahead of him.
Still in the infancy of his senior career as a goalkeeper, Charles has already turned out 36 times for Sheffield Wednesday, and that would’ve been more had he not suffered a significant shoulder injury in 2025-26.
Already the Owls’ clear-cut number one between the sticks, he’s been strongly linked with a move to Rangers in recent months.
And now, with the way Butland ended his 2025-26 campaign, Gers have to put Charles’ signature right near the top of their summer transfer to-do list.
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How do Pierce Charles’ & Jack Butland’s 2025-26 stats compare?
Butland received major Rangers criticism over the final weeks of this past season, and in truth, has always divided opinion among the Ibrox faithful.
He failed to keep a single clean sheet in any of his final eight Scottish Premiership appearances last term, with numerous poor performances after the split contributing to Gers’ eventual downfall.
| Pierce Charles fact file | Answer |
| Full name | Pierce Joseph Charles |
| Date of birth | 21 July, 2005 |
| Place of birth | Manchester, England |
| Height | 1.86m/6’1″ |
| Began youth career with | Manchester City |
As such, with Butland now 33 and heading towards the twilight of his career, there is a growing feeling amongst supporters that the Englishman’s time in Govan as the number one should be over moving forward.
Charles, on the other hand, is very much at the other end of the scale, and has already proven himself to be an elite goalkeeper at EFL Championship level, England’s second tier.
The Northern Ireland international played 19 times for Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship in 2025-26, for an Owls side that were deducted a total of 18 points and finished bottom on zero points after entering administration last October.
With that context in mind, let’s take a look at how the two goalkeeper’s league stats from this past campaign compare with one another.
Per FotMob, Butland posted a slightly better save percentage of 70.7 per cent to Charles’ 69 per cent, but the Wednesday keeper faced 6.21 shots per game compared to 4.09 for the Rangers man respectively.
Meanwhile, Charles made zero errors leading to goals whilst Butland made four, and the former also made more saves per 90 with 4.26 to the latter’s 2.74.
Charles made 22 high claims to Butland’s 18, played 141 accurate long balls to the Gers’ goalkeeper’s 179 from 19 fewer games, whilst the Rangers man conceded 1.13 goals per 90 compare to the Wednesday star’s 1.95 respectively.
Overall then, Charles is either bettering or very close to matching Butland in many of those key categories, despite the fact he played for a side that won two of their 46 Championship games last term.
How much might Charles cost Rangers to purchase him?
Nobody quite knows for certain what Charles’ asking price might be, especially after Sheffield Wednesday’s relegation to League One.
He could be available at a discounted fee as a result of the Owls’ ongoing financial struggles despite now having new owners.
On the flip side, their new ownership may be set on keeping him, and may not have any desire to let the highly-rated goalkeeper leave for anything less than a premium price.
According to a report from journalist Alan Nixon in September of last year, he claimed Wednesday were demanding £4million for Charles, which if that price is right and still accurate, that would be an absolute bargain for Rangers.
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