Club figure outlines transfer plans for Charlton Athletic duo | OneFootball

Charlton Athletic academy boss Steve Avory has stated that he feels that Charlie Barker and Aaron Henry don’t necessarily need to go out on loan this season, during a recent interview that he gave to the South London Press.

Both players have featured in pre-season for the Addicks and appear to be on the fringes of Nigel Adkins’ plans moving forwards at the Valley.

Both players are first year pros with the South London side and as a result of this, many would assume that the duo would be sent out on loan in order to continue their development.

However Avory has stated his belief that this doesn’t have to be the case, as he commented on the situation recently:

“For every young player, just because they’ve had some first-team experience like Aaron and Charlie have, it is not necessarily the right thing to then go on loan straight away.

“There is a lot of talk about that – getting senior experience – but let’s not forget we do have an U23 development group.

“In Aaron and Charlie’s case they are still only first-year pros. Aaron is not 18 until the middle of August. So they can develop with us.”

Quiz: What was the score the last time Charlton Athletic played at each of these 24 stadiums?

1 of 24

The Valley? (not including pre-season)

1-0 win

2-0 win

1-0 loss

2-0 loss

Both players are under contract with the club until the summer of 2023 and will be looking to get some more first team minutes under their belts when the season kicks off next week.

Baker has made nine first team appearances so far, whilst Henry has made four.

The Verdict

There is a clear intention from Avory to attempt to get these youngsters some more first team minutes at the Valley and I am sure it something that a lot of people will get behind moving forwards.

The fact that both Baker and Henry have featured so heavily already at senior level underlines the ability that they both have and with the amount of games that there will be this season, it wouldn’t shock me if they both get more minutes moving forwards.

If for whatever reason they don’t get the type of game time that they are after, there is always the opportunity to send them out on loan at a later date.

However at present I have to agree with Avory on this, as sometimes it is better to keep these young players about the place before shipping them out on loan.