Charlton Athletic will want to avoid the kind of regret that followed Sunderland transfer | OneFootball

Charlton Athletic's decision to sign a midfielder from Sunderland in the summer of 2015 did not pay off.

Charlton Athletic will not want to make any mistakes similar to the one they made in 2015 during the upcoming January transfer window.

In the summer of 2015, the Addicks had just finished 12th in the Championship, which is still the second best season that the club has had since being relegated from the Premier League in 2007.

Therefore, there was optimism among the Charlton supporters that they could kick on during the 2015/16 campaign, with hope that the likes of Johann Berg Gudmundsson, Igor Vetokele and Tony Watt could help them make progress in the second tier.

Unfortunately, the transfer business Charlton completed during that season contributed to them finishing 22nd in the table and suffering relegation to League One. In the nine full seasons that have followed, the Addicks have spent eight of them in the third tier.

While players such as Zakarya Bergdich, Roger Johnson, Ricardo Vaz Te and Cristian Ceballos all joined the club that season, Charlton fans may look back on one signing in particular and feel as though it perfectly sums up the club's recruitment during that period.

Charlton must look back on the signing of El-Hadji Ba with regret

Charlton signed midfielder El-Hadji Ba from Sunderland for an undisclosed fee in June 2015, after he had missed most of the previous campaign with a broken leg during a loan spell at French side Bastia.

Ba signed a three-year contract at The Valley, but unfortunately he failed to make the impact he would have been hoping for in SE7.

He played 25 games in the Championship over the course of the 2015/16 campaign, but after providing an assist for Watt during the opening day victory over Queens Park Rangers, he failed to make another significant contribution for the rest of the season.

Arguably the most memorable moment involving Ba that season came when Johnnie Jackson replaced the Frenchman while the Addicks were 2-0 down at home against Fulham, before scoring with his first touch and inspiring Charlton to salvage a 2-2 draw.

Following relegation to League One, Ba did not make another appearance for Charlton, and his contract was terminated in February 2017 after the club had failed to offload him during the January transfer window.

Nathan Jones will want to avoid the kind of regret that followed the signing of Ba

Current Charlton boss Nathan Jones will no doubt be hoping that he can strengthen his squad during the upcoming January transfer window, but the Addicks' supporters will not want to see another signing like Ba come through the door at The Valley.

Considering that Jones' side currently find themselves mid-table in League One, and eight points adrift of the top six, it is imperative that they bring in the right calibre of player if they are going to be able to turn their season around during the second half of the campaign.

Given that the Addicks paid a fee to Sunderland to secure the signing of Ba before terminating his contract midway through a three-year deal, and the fact that he was unable to make a single appearance in League One despite having been signed to play in the Championship, means the club must surely regret that piece of business.

It is vital that they do not make a similar mistake next month.