Charlie William Henry Savage (born 2 May 2003) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Reading and the Wales national team.
Savage was born in Leicester, Leicestershire, and was educated at Manchester Grammar School. He followed in the footsteps of his father, former Wales international footballer Robbie Savage, by joining the youth ranks of Manchester United.
Savage signed his first professional contract with Manchester United in April 2021. He made his first-team debut for United on 8 December 2021, replacing Juan Mata in the 89th minute of the 2021âÂÂ22 UEFA Champions League match against Young Boys, while his father, Robbie Savage, was co-commentating on the match for BT Sport. On 22 May 2022, Savage was named in a Premier League matchday squad for the first time, against Crystal Palace.
In January 2023, Savage joined Forest Green Rovers for the remainder of the 2022âÂÂ23 season, making his debut for the club on 14 February 2023 in a home defeat to Charlton Athletic and scoring his first league goal in a 3âÂÂ1 defeat by Bristol Rovers on 11 March 2023.
On 22 July 2023, Savage signed for Reading on a four-year contract. He scored his first goal for Reading in a 4âÂÂ0 win over Millwall in the EFL Cup on 8 August 2023. He then went on to score 12 goals all at the Madejski Stadium in the 2024-25 season against Wigan Athletic, Charlton Athletic, Burton Albion, Northampton Town & Peterborough United. He then scored his first goal of the 2025-26 season at the Madejski Stadium against Stevenage on 6 November 2025, watched on by his dad National League club Forest Green Rovers manager Robbie Savage in the stands in new manager Leam Richardson's first match in charge after replacing former Royals player & manager Noel Hunt.
Savage has represented Wales at under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-21 levels. He was called up to the under-19 team for a friendly tournament in Croatia in September 2021, and scored in a 3âÂÂ2 defeat to Austria. In September 2022, Savage was called up to the Wales under-21 squad for the first time.
In October 2023, Savage received his first call-up to the Wales senior national team for a friendly match against Gibraltar and an UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier against Croatia. He won his first cap for Wales in the former match, on 11 October, starting in a 4âÂÂ0 win over Gibraltar.
A central midfielder like his father, Robbie Savage, Savage is comfortable both defending and going forward. Despite the similarities, Savage has said that he does not see the likeness, stating that he is more of a technical, ball playing midfielder, rather than a tenacious player like his father was.
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