Who are these new guys? Giving Charlton fans a voice
Charlton fans could be forgiven for being a bit confused at the end of transfer deadline day given the speed with which last minute deals were concluded and announced. Now that we have got our breath back here is a bit of background:
TENNAI WATSON
Is a 26 year old defender who can play at right back, left back or wing back. He is a product of the Reading Academy who made his debut for the Reading first team as a 19 year old. He stayed at the club until the end of the 2020/21 season but only made four League appearances in all.
He had two loans to League One clubs while at Reading – to AFC Wimbledon in 2018/19 (24 appearances) and Coventry in 2019/20 (3 appearances). He has played the last two seasons for Milton Keynes (58 appearances, 2 goals) but turned down a contract to stay with them in League Two.
Technical Director Andy Scott said: “He is hungry to come and challenge for the full-back positions against our two very talented players already at the club in Nathan Asiimwe and Tayo Edun. In those three we have competition for places with exciting, young, hungry players with excellent attitudes and ambition.”
LOUIE WATSON
Born in Croydon and no relation to Tennai or Ben, twenty two year old Louie is a defensive midfielder who has joined on a season-long loan from Luton Town. He is an Ireland under 21 international (five caps) who began his career at West Ham but moved to Derby and made thirteen Championship appearances in two seasons (2020-22). Last season he joined Luton but made only five appearances in their promotion campaign. He made his Charlton debut on Tuesday at Crawley and looked comfortable.
Andy Scott commented: “He is another player who is highly-regarded and Luton’s rise to the Premier League has given us this unique opportunity to get a young player with immense talent into our football club. Unfortunately we have had a number of injuries in our midfield area and so the acquisition of Louie will complement the group well and give us more strength in depth.”
SLOBODAN TEDIC
After three seasons at Čukarički (57 appearances, 8 goals) in the Serbian League six foot three inch striker Bodan (23) was signed by Manchester City as a twenty year old. He was loaned back to Čukarički and then spent two seasons in the Dutch Eredivisie with FC Zwolle (38 games, 2 goals). He spent last season on loan at Barnsley where he scored four goals in his twenty one appearances. He is clearly not a prolific goal scorer but he will provide a physical presence up front and is presumably seen as back up for Miles Leaburn. He made his Charlton debut in the second half of the Crawley game on Tuesday.
Scott commented “We can say this has been a saga in getting the player to us. It’s been a long drawn-out process, however we are delighted to bring in someone of his quality from such an important club to Charlton. We thank Manchester City for their help in getting this over the line.”
JAMES ABANKWAH
James is a nineteen year old centre back (born in Waterford) who has signed on loan from Udinese in Seria A. He was playing for St Patricks Athletic in The League of Ireland when in 2022 Udinese came in with a bid believed to be in the region of £800k. He was immediately loaned back to St Patrick’s but made his Udinese debut as a substitute against Bologna in April this year and was in the starting line up for the fixture against Juventus in June. He also made his Republic of Ireland under 21 debut in the same month.
Scott enthused: “He is a player that I watched a number of years ago in Ireland and I have followed his career ever since, through the Republic of Ireland youth age groups from U16 to U21 level. All the reports we have had on him are exceptional and, with James joining, it gives us more defensive versatility.”
We wish all four the best of luck in their Charlton careers.
Meanwhile, Jack Payne, Diallang Jayesimi and Zach Mitchell have gone out on loan to Milton Keynes, St Johnstone and Colchester respectively.
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