"Direct rival" claim emerges amid Charlton Athletic, Huddersfield Town, Alfie May saga | OneFootball

Huddersfield Town have reportedly made a bid for Charlton Athletic striker Alfie May.

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 will be hoping to challenge for promotion from League One next season.

It was an incredibly disappointing campaign for the Addicks this season, and they were in serious relegation danger at one stage, but Nathan Jones led the club to safety after replacing Michael Appleton in February.

One of the main positives for Charlton this season was the form of striker Alfie May, who joined the club from Cheltenham Town last summer for a fee in the region of £250,000.

The 30-year-old scored 27 goals in 50 appearances in all competitions for the Addicks this season, and he finished the campaign as League One's top scorer, continuing his impressive recent record in the third tier.

May's form has not gone unnoticed, and Charlton have reportedly rejected a bid for the striker from Huddersfield Town, who are managed by his former Cheltenham boss Michael Duff.

The Terriers are expected to come back with a second offer for May as they look to build a squad capable of challenging for an immediate return to the Championship, and it remains to be seen whether the Addicks would consider selling to a potential promotion rival.

May was a regular under Jones in the final three months of the season, but he was dropped to the bench by the Welshman on three occasions, which has led to speculation that Charlton could cash in on him.

Charlton Athletic urged against Alfie May to Huddersfield Town

FLW's Charlton Athletic fan pundit Ben Fleming insists the Addicks must not sell May to a direct rival in Huddersfield, and he believes it would take a significant fee for the club to allow the striker to depart.

"I think the reports are that Huddersfield are going to come back in with another bid," Ben said.

"I can see a world where Charlton sell.

"Obviously he had a fantastic season with us and more than justified the money, but he is on the older side, and there were perhaps some suggestions towards the end of the season in the way that Nathan Jones was setting the team up that he maybe doesn't see Alfie May as perhaps one of his first choice strikers if he's playing two up top.

"He said Alfie needs a rest and we need to keep him sharp, which I think was more the point, but there were suggestions that maybe a bigger, different profile of striker is what Nathan Jones might want. "I don't really think we should be considering selling him. "He was the top goalscorer in the league last year, I don't care what system you play, a player of that quality in this league is going to find a way to thrive. "I'm pretty sure when he was at Cheltenham he was playing in a front two, which is where he worked better for us last year anyway as opposed to playing up front on his own. "I think him playing in a front two for Nathan Jones is going to get the best out of him once he's had a summer off to refresh and recharge his batteries. "If we're going to be entertaining offers, I can't remember exactly the fee that we signed him for, but you're going to be looking for a healthy profit. "I really can't envisage any scenario where if we're trying to put ourselves in the mix for automatic promotion or the play-offs that we should even be remotely considering the possibility of selling to someone who is a direct rival. "If it was a Championship club that came in, maybe that's a different conversation because they have bigger pockets and you're not selling him to a direct rival. "But selling him to Huddersfield, who are going to be in that hunt for the top six, would just give them an unnecessary advantage given the financial one they already have over us.

"I don't think it should be anything that we entertain, but if we do sell, it's got to be for a very, very big fee."

It is difficult to disagree with Ben that Charlton should not sell May this summer, particularly not to a rival in Huddersfield.

May has been one of the most prolific scorers over the last three years in League One, and his return of 27 goals this season in an Addicks team that struggled for much of the campaign was outstanding.

Charlton will have Miles Leaburn back from injury next season, and they are likely to strengthen in the forward areas this summer, but it would be incredibly tough for anyone to replace May's goals if he was to depart.

Huddersfield will be among the promotion contenders in League One next season, and May has thrived working under Duff previously at Cheltenham, so Charlton must resist the temptation to sell him to the Terriers, even if they were to return with a sizeable bid.