Charlton Athletic bound to benefit as eye-catching arrival earns first minutes: Opinion | OneFootball

Charlton Athletic fans got a first glimpse of Michael Hector earlier this week as he came on in the closing stages of their win against Forest Green Rovers, to help see out the victory.

It was a narrow win in the end against struggling FGR but a win all the same and Charlton reside just inside the top half of the table now, with them hoping to finish as high as they can in the standings before the end of the season.

With someone like Michael Hector in the squad now, too, there is every chance that they are going to finish the campaign well.

When Charlton managed to get him in on a free transfer it naturally looked a good signing on paper.

Hector is a player that was once considered one of the better defenders at Championship level as he helped Fulham challenge at the sharp end of the second tier table and, in fairness, it was only their impressive recruitment of defenders for their Premier League stint in 20/21 that hampered Hector’s chances of playing in the top flight.

Indeed, from then on it seemed as though Hector’s time at Fulham was beginning to come to an end, with him struggling to get back into the side despite Fulham being back in the Championship last year, as Marco Silva opted for other players in front of him.

Keeping match fitness would have been difficult for him, then, and so it’s clear he needs to build that back up, hence Charlton used him pretty fleetingly earlier this week.

Make no mistake, though, he is still a player very capable of playing at Championship level and so for Charlton to get him in on a free should be considered a bit of a coup.

Sheffield Wednesday were obviously keen on getting him in and at least taking a closer look at him as they took him on trial but, eventually, he joined the Addicks.

Now, he’ll be looking to prove a real point after a tough spell in his career and there seems a good chance that he will be a regular at Charlton.

Of course, there are never guarantees with signings but this does appear one that should work for the Addicks, and with him only on a short term deal at The Valley it’s a pretty low risk deal.

If it goes well Charlton will naturally want to keep him and, if it doesn’t, he can look elsewhere in the summer, but it feels like Hector will have a good period at the club regardless of length.

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