Charlton Athletic closing in on £1.5m Stockport County transfer agreement | OneFootball

Charlton Athletic are reported to be close to securing the services of Stockport County striker Isaac Olaofe as they prepare for the Championship.

Charlton Athletic are close to securing the services of Stockport County striker Isaac Olaofe, who has been a prolific goalscorer in the lower divisions in recent years.

Charlton are preparing for a return to the Championship following an absence of five years, after beating Leyton Orient in the League One play-off final at Wembley in May.

And reports in the media have indicated that they are now close to an agreement to pay a £1.5 million fee to sign Olaofe, who scored eight times in League One for Stockport last season.

Stockport are resigned to losing Isaac Olaofe to Charlton this summer

Journalist Alan Nixon has reported that Charlton are close to securing the services of Stockport County striker Olaofe.

He confirms that the clubs are close to reaching an agreement over the transfer fee, which is understood to be in the region of £1.5 million, and that they are now negotiating personal terms with the striker.

Nixon reports that Stockport are "resigned" to losing Olaofe, who scored thirty League goals in his three years at Edgeley Park, including twenty during their 2023-24 League Two campaign.

Last season, 25-year-old Olaofe scored nine League One goals and 12 in all competitions as the Hatters missed out on League One promotion, but he's set to get his Championship move regardless.

Charlton Athletic need to strengthen attacking unit - Isaac Olaofe is still a gamble

Olaofe made over 100 appearances for Stockport over his three years with the club.

His twenty goals during their 2023-24 League Two promotion season didn't only make him their top scorer; in scoring twenty league goals in a season, he became the first County player to do so in more than twenty years, with the last player to do so being Luke Beckett, in the 2002-03 season.

Olaofe joined Millwall at the age of 14, but he was unable to break into the Lions team, making only two appearances for them in the League, and in December 2022 he transferred to Stockport for an undisclosed fee.

The 2023-24 season brought a second League title, again as top scorer, but things proved to be more challenging in the 2024-25 season, although Stockport did still reach the League One play-offs after finishing third in the table, behind runaway leaders Birmingham City and Wrexham.

Despite not starting regularly in the first half of the 2024-25 season, Olaofe scored the equalising goal in the second leg of Stockport's play-off semi-final clash with Leyton Orient to force the tie to extra-time, though Orient won the penalty shoot-out 4-1.

That looks to be Olaofe's last kick of a Stockport ball though, as Nathan Jones and Charlton look to finalise his transfer.

Charlton have strengthening to do ahead of their return to the Championship. At 25 years old and with two League titles and two seasons as a top scorer already under his belt, Olaofe looks like a good bet to step up and prove himself at this higher level.

However, this deal comes with risks, and a player who has barely tasted Championship football yet in his career for a seven-figure fee is still a significant gamble for Charlton to commit to.