Charlton Athletic chief drops Birmingham City and Wrexham opinion in transfer update

Charlton Athletic managing director Jim Rodwell had praised the work of Championship rivals Birmingham City and Wrexham as he provided an Addicks transfer update this week.

Nathan Jones’ side kickstarted their return to the second tier with a dramatic late win against Watford at The Valley last weekend. Summer signing Harvey Knibbs came off the bench to net a 94th minute winner, having signed for the club from League One side Reading.

The Addicks haven’t splurged the same transfer fees as other Championship clubs but have still been very busy in the window. Sonny Carey and Amari’i Bell have arrived on free transfers from Blackpool and Luton Town. Meanwhile, Rob Apter, Knibbs, Tanto Olaofe, Thomas Kaminski and Joe Rankin-Costello have been recruited for fees of £2 million or lower.

Charlton Athletic chief ‘loves’ Birmingham City and Wrexham spending

The most expensive acquisition came in the arrival of Charlie Kelman from QPR with a reported £3.5 million paid, with that fee potentially rising to £5 million. Reece Burke has also been added to the squad from Luton Town for an undisclosed fee.

Meanwhile, fellow promoted clubs Birmingham City and Wrexham have spent larger sums. The Blues forked out a reported £10 million on Rennes forward Kyogo Furuhashi alone with Wrexham splurging £2 million or more on each of Kieffer Moore, Conor Coady, Liberato Cacace and Lewis O’Brien.

Speaking to talkSPORT on Monday, Charlton Athletic managing director Jim Rodwell said: “The first thing that we’ve got to be is competitive week-in, week-out and see where that takes you. Of course we want to stay in the division but I think our ambition is a little bit more than that. There will be disappointments along the way but the players do their own goal setting about what they think is achievable this season. They are optimists in thinking how we can perform. Given a fair wind, with injuries and things like that, we think we think we can compete with anybody.

“We haven’t quite got the depth in squads of some of our competitors but I’m thrilled with what we’ve done. Listen, I love what Birmingham do and I love what Wrexham do, I think it brings profile to the division. I’m just delighted to be in it but we’re not here to make up anyone’s numbers.”

Addicks spending ‘just about’ done this window

Rodwell also admitted that the club’s spending was ‘just about’ done this summer with no major acquisitions expected between now and the end of the window. He added: “We had a plan for the Championship when we went into the play-off game. We didn’t realise how difficult it was actually going to be, I think Nathan has said publicly it’s been the most difficult transfer window he’s ever seen.

“It’s been a slog. We wanted to bring nine players in, we knew who they were, and it takes a long time to move the pieces around the chessboard to get exactly what you want. Harvey Knibbs is a good example, we’ve been trying to sign him for two months and he came a week or so ago, with very little pre-season and comes off the bench and does what he gets paid to do.”

In other news, Championship relegation favourites and how Millwall, QPR and Charlton Athletic compare to rivals.