Charlton Athletic advised to make transfer decision amid uncertain Thierry Small situation | OneFootball

Two Championship clubs are reportedly interested in the 20-year-old.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Charlton Athletic have a big job ahead of them to get Nathan Jones' team ready to compete in the Championship.

Another steely 1-0 win, this time in the Addicks' biggest game of the season, has led them to a return to the second tier that they have been dreaming of for the past five years.

It was the defenders providing the goods at both ends of the pitch that sealed the deal for Charlton in their 1-0 win over London rivals Leyton Orient, with Macaulay Gillesphey curling a free-kick around the O's wall and into the back of the net.

Now all attention has turned towards remaining a Championship club come this time next season, but Charlton will have some catching up to do, given that most of their new league rivals have been able to get on with shaping their squad for the best part of a month now.

Positive Thierry Small, Charlton Athletic future prediction made

20-year-old winger Thierry Small is one player that Jones is at risk of losing this summer. The left-back turned right-sided attacker/wing-back comes to the end of his deal at The Valley in a matter of weeks.

There is interest in Small from two Championship clubs - Millwall and Preston North End, as per Football Insider. If he does leave, they will be entitled to compensation from whichever team he joins because of his age, under the training compensation rules.

The doubts over his future haven't dented the hopes of Sam White, one of Football League World's Charlton fan pundits, who believes that the Addicks will hold onto their prodigy this summer.

However, as much as he believes that the 20-year-old is likely to stick around, White admitted that the south London club will probably need to add players in Small's position.

"I think we're more likely to be able to sign him. Obviously he did quite well in the play-off final, although, realistically, I don't know how far he will be in Nathan Jones' plans.

"He's done a good enough job this season. He's tailed off towards the end, but it'll be interesting to see what the plan is going forward. I would imagine we'll be wanting more experience at the Championship level and definitely someone that can guarantee performances and consistency next season.

"Now that we've got Phil Chapple, I think our berth of players (that they can sign), our pool of players, will be so much larger and so much more willing to come now that Charlton are in the Championship. So it'll be interesting to see what happens.

"I think we'd be due compensation too because Small was under 21 (at the start of the season), which could be quite good as well."

Charlton have two major transfer bonuses going for them

A lot more goes into a player's decision to change clubs/which club they join than just for football reasons. As there is with any job, which is what being a professional footballer is - a job - money, location; all of those things come into play.

Charlton aren't like the other two teams that are coming up to the Championship for the 2025/26 campaign - Birmingham City and Wrexham - who will be able to compete with every other league rival off the bat, financially. A move to The Valley will certainly be attractive for some players, though, because of the location and their new league standing.

You see so many clubs move to teams in the northwest so that they can live in the Greater Manchester area - the same goes with the nation's capital. Being able to offer that London lifestyle will be a big pull for some players, just like it was for Matty Godden last summer.