Charlton Athletic must rue £1.1m transfer mistake along with these 4 others | OneFootball

FLW takes a look at five regrettable signings made by Charlton Athletic.

Charlton Athletic will look back on some of the signings they have made over the years and wonder whether they could have spent their money more wisely.

Out of the 18 full seasons since they were relegated from the Premier League in 2007, the Addicks have spent 11 of them in League One, and they may have been able to spend more time in the Championship if they had invested better in their playing squad.

Charlton have spent transfer fees to sign plenty of players during that time, and there have been many who have impressed in SE7, such as Bradley Wright-Phillips, Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Patrick Bauer, but there have also been several who failed to live up to expectations.

Let's take a look at five players signed by Charlton since they were relegated from the Premier League who have not justified their price-tag.

Izale McLeod

Charlton signed Izale McLeod from MK Dons for an initial fee of £1.1 million, which could have risen to £1.55 million, in the summer of 2007.

The striker had been prolific in League Two the previous season, scoring 21 league goals, but he struggled to make the step up to the Championship.

McLeod scored just four goals during his time at The Valley, before going on to enjoy successful spells at the likes of Barnet and Crawley Town later in his career.

Nicky Ajose

Charlton brought in another striker who had been prolific during the previous campaign when they agreed a deal to sign Nicky Ajose from Swindon Town for a fee in the region of £800,000 in 2016.

Ajose netted 24 goals in League One during the 2015/16 season, as the Addicks suffered relegation from the Championship, before he was signed by Russell Slade to help Charlton bounce back to the second tier at the first time of asking.

He scored eight times in the league during his three seasons at The Valley, working out at roughly £100,000 per goal in League One.

Ronnie Schwartz

Danish striker Ronnie Schwartz is another player who did not deliver during his spell at Charlton.

In November 2020, then Director of Football Steve Gallen revealed that the Addicks had agreed a fee to sign Schwartz for 'a lot more' than £200,000 the previous summer, but it wasn't until January 2021 that he completed a move to The Valley for an undisclosed fee.

He only made 16 appearances for Charlton, during which he scored one goal and missed a crucial penalty against Oxford United, before his contract was mutually terminated in October 2021.

Charlie Kirk

Charlie Kirk signed for Charlton from Crewe Alexandra for £500,000 in the summer of 2021.

The winger was one of the most exciting young attackers in League Two when he made the move to The Valley, but he never really lived up to expectations during his time in SE7.

Following a couple of loan moves away from the club, an agreement was reached for his contract to be terminated in December 2023.

Gassan Ahadme

Gassan Ahadme only signed for Charlton last summer for a reported fee of £1 million from Ipswich Town, but it is already looking like a deal that the club could live to regret.

As things stand ahead of the Addicks' trip to Birmingham City this weekend, the 24-year-old has only scored once in League One, while he has been left out of the squad by Nathan Jones for each of the last seven games.

It remains to be seen whether Ahadme can turn things around at Charlton, but at the moment it looks as though the deal to sign him is not one that the club will look back on with fondness.