Sheffield Wednesday's Pierce Charles deal an overdue return of sensible management

They had tried to tie the Northern Ireland goalkeeper down to a new contract but deep down they must have known that a player of his ability – and style, right at the height of modern goalkeeping fashion with a passing ability as good as anyone at Hillsborough, certainly until Barry Bannan's return – would not be hanging around in League One, whatever his feelings for the club.

But to get a fee which could rise to £10m for him is hugely significant.

For starters, that would be the club's record sale, which is currently Darko Kovacevic's move to Real Sociedad, estimated to have cost the Spanish club anywhere between £4.5m and £7.2m.

That record has stood since 1996. In England's top three divisions, only Notts County – for Yorkshireman Craig Short, Mansfield Town (Colin Calderwood) and Cambridge United (Dion Dublin) have milestones that have stood for longer.

It is indicative of one of the big problems of Dejphon Chansiri’s 10-year regime. The Thai businessman got so attached to Wednesday's best players he never wanted to sell them. As a result, most left on free transfers at the end of contracts.

Even more so in this era of financial fair play, even the super clubs need to be able to trade out as well as in.

Their financial collapse forced sales on Wednesday last season but Djeidi Gassama and Antony Musaba went for cut prices just to pay the bills. Selling cheap is not the objective.

Caelan Kole-Cadamarteri, Yisa Alao and Romario Collins being taken away before they could have an impact on the first team was more depressing.

At least they, and Charles, are good adverts for the club's academy – the positive spin sporting director Simon Wilson was keen to put on it.

But after the sale of Svante Ingelsson to Stoke City in a deal which could exceed £1m, and now Charles' departure, the Owls are proper traders again.

Now, to make that a good thing, they have to show they can spend well too.