Charlton Athletic sign 'really technical' winger as 'strongest' Championship prediction made

Charlton Athletic have confirmed the signing of winger Rob Apter from Blackpool. The 22-year-old arrives after a strong season with Blackpool, scoring eight and assisting as many last term.

Apter signs a four-year deal and joins on an undisclosed fee, stepping up to the Championship and joining what Charlton hope will be a successful survival bid. Nathan Jones said of the signing: “Rob's exactly the type of player that we want to sign for Charlton Athletic - he's young, athletic, has a high ceiling and is a really technical player who had a fantastic season last year and did really well against us. He's an exciting player that can score and assist, and a player that will fit into our structure really, really well."

Speaking from Charlton’s pre-season camp in Slovenia, Apter said: “I’m made up to sign for this massive club and I can’t wait to play in front of you fans at The Valley. As soon as I spoke to the gaffer I knew it was the place for me - everything about the project is so exciting. I feel like I’m ready to play at Championship level now and I want to step up and show everyone what I can do."

The 22-year-old winger came through at Blackpool after initially representing Tranmere Rovers as a youngster. He made 47 league appearances for the Tangerines, while also completing four loan spells, including a full season back at Tranmere, where he made 37 league appearances during the season before last. He won the League Two Young Player of the Season award during that campaign.

He is a former Scotland uneder-21s international, and he will now look to make the step up with a Charlton side who may have a tricky campaign ahead of them following promotion.

Charlton prediction

We have already seen some interesting predictions for Charlton’s first season back in the Championship, and the latest comes from EFL expert George Elek. He told Dragon Sports: “So even though there’s a big gap in quality, and it’s not necessarily the business that Charlton have done in the summer that would suggest that they’re going to make it up easily,

“I personally think Nathan Jones is the strongest and most important reason why Charlton can probably expect to give a really good account of themselves in the Championship. He is obviously desperate to prove people wrong. I think his position as being something as of a joke figure within some quarters of football is completely undeserved.

“It annoys me that a few bad months at Southampton and Stoke for some people, means they forget the incredible work that he did at Luton. And at Charlton, he’s again showing what an impactful and effective manager he is. And I think Charlton Athletic will be all the better for it. And I expect they’ll stay up under him.” Jones had the chance to leave Charlton for boyhood club Cardiff City this summer but instead moved to sign a new long-term contract.

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