If Chelsea push to sign Miles Leaburn, Charlton Athletic must ask for international forward in return: View | OneFootball

Highlights

Charlton Athletic have had somewhat of a change in fortunes since Michael Appleton was appointed in September, and he has two very good strikers at opposite ends of their careers to choose from as a real luxury.

With Appleton only playing a lone striker system, one of Miles Leaburn and Alfie May cannot start in their natural position, but the Addicks head coach is trying his best to make things work.

May is a proven, prolific League One goalscorer, but in Leaburn, Charlton may have a potential star of the future - how long for remains anyone's guess.

Leaburn, who stands at 6 ft 5 in at the age of 19, is a unique talent for his age as he has the size and strength but also combines that with agility and pace, making him a very good all-round striker who will only get better.

With seven goals in 16 appearances in all competitions so far this season, as well as 13 goals in his debut 2022-23 season, Leaburn was always going to attract attention going into January, but he was over the summer as well with a £3 million bid rejected from an unnamed German club.

And whilst Leaburn has family ties to Charlton, with his father Carl also being a successful striker for the club, the Premier League vultures are circling and you get the sense that a move will soon come, despite Charlton being in no rush to sell.

Brentford have recently been linked with the teenager, but so have Chelsea - a club who released Leaburn four years ago at the age of 15.

The Blues have done dealings with Charlton in recent years after signing Mason Burstow in 2022, and now they are seemingly coming for Leaburn, as the South London Press reported in October.

Should Chelsea come in with the right offer for Leaburn in January but don't want to loan the towering attacker back to The Valley, then Charlton need to cover themselves and get something else out of the deal, and they could do that by asking for Dujuan Richards on loan in return.

Who is Dujuan Richards?

Many English footballing fans will not have heard of Richards, but they soon will.

Richards, who is nicknamed 'Whisper', has not long joined Chelsea, arriving on his 18th birthday just two weeks ago after agreeing a pre-contract deal all the way back in March - that came after he went on trial with Newcastle United but it was the Blues who swooped in the end.

The forward has been playing for the Phoenix Football Academy in his native Jamaica for a number of years, and it was his performances on tours of Europe with that academy which saw him come to the attention of big clubs.

Richards was also eligible to represent England through his grandmother, but despite not actually playing for a professional club in his home nation, the attacker was capped by Jamaica for the very first time in March, around the same time he agreed to join Chelsea.

And in just his fifth cap, Richards scored his first international goal and became the Reggae Boyz' youngest scorer of all-time in the Gold Cup, just showing what a talent Chelsea were getting their hands on.

Richards is a highly versatile forward, capable of playing through the middle but also out wide as well, where he has started twice for Jamaica on the right - and a player like the teenager who is left-footed and could cut in from that flank could be very ideal.

Appleton has Corey Blackett-Taylor for the left but the options are lacking for the right - Tyreece Campbell has been playing there but May and Leaburn have also been filling in on occasion.

And if Charlton got big money for Leaburn as well as loaning in Richards for his first taste of English professional football, it would solve Appleton's striker selection headache and sort out his depth issue on the right.

Of course, Chelsea may have other plans for Richards, but if you don't ask, you don't get, and there's not many better clubs or managers to send a promising player to in England than Charlton and Appleton.