This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
Usually, we would’ve done a simple article ranking all of a club’s summer signings, such as the one we did with Southampton here.
However, in Charlton’s case, the Addicks made a quite significant amount of additions back in the summer.
Lee Bowyer oversaw 14 – yes, 14 – new arrivals at The Valley throughout pre-season, so we’ve decided to take a different approach as opposed to ranking every single one of them.
Instead, we’ve decided to name the three best captures that Bowyer made for the south Londoners back in the summer…
Tom Lockyer
Tom Lockyer had made a massive 284 appearances for Bristol Rovers and was a full Wales international before Charlton managed to snap him up on a free transfer back in the summer – an impressive deal, to say the least.
At just 24 with his best years ahead of him, Lockyer has helped the south Londoners concede just 12 goals in 11 Championship games this season, while also attracting praise from some supporters on Twitter for his performance against Leeds.
If the fully-fledged international centre-back keeps his level of performance up, Charlton will have a valuable asset on their hands – they already have a dependable player who puts his body on the line for his club.
Conor Gallagher
Arguably the best of Charlton’s 14 additions, Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher has been incredible for the Addicks this term.
The 19-year-old has scored four goals and set up one more in just ten Championship starts this season, and also won the EFL Young Player of the Month award for his efforts.
Gallagher’s fine form also saw the teenager receive a maiden call-up to the England U21 squad.
Josh Cullen
One of the standout stars of Charlton’s promotion campaign last term, Josh Cullen has continued his fine form having re-signed for the Addicks on loan back in the summer.
Some presumably may have wondered how the youngster would do in a higher division, but he has proved his worth to Bowyer.
With 1.4 key passes per game and a passing accuracy of 82.5% in the Championship this season, Cullen has helped things tick along smoothly in Charlton’s midfield and can definitely be considered as one of their better signings.