Exclusive: Charlton Athletic told by Sky Sports man about "sucker punch" involving David Datro Fofana | OneFootball

David Datro Fofana's signature was chased by the Addicks on Deadline Day

Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie believes Charlton Athletic were dealt a "massive blow" on Deadline Day as they failed to land the loan signing of Chelsea striker, David Datro Fofana.

The Addicks have had a solid, if not spectacular, start to life back in the Championship after last season's promotion through the League One play-off final, with Nathan Jones looking to add further depth and quality right until the last moments of the now-closed summer transfer window.

Charlton found the back of the net 67 times last term - the joint-lowest return alongside fellow promoted outfit Wrexham in last season's third-tier top six - meaning the Welshman was always going to target attacking reinforcements as they look to consolidate in the second-tier for the first time since being relegated in the 2019/20 season.

Jones has been able to bring in Isaac 'Tanto' Oloafe, Charlie Kelman and Harvey Knibbs - all of whom excelled in League One last season for Stockport County, Leyton Orient (on loan from Queens Park Rangers) and Reading respectively - but remained on the lookout for further firepower ahead of a four-month period where only free transfers and emergency loan signings can be made.

However, those aims were dealt a crushing blow as, despite it initially looking like the South London club had fended off SPFL champions Celtic for the Ivorian striker, Charlton were unable to complete a deal, with it being reported that the required paperwork wasn't submitted in time, with the earlier transfer deadline of 7PM said to have caused said issues.

Lee Hendrie reacts to Charlton Athletic's "massive blow" amid David Datro Fofana, Chelsea transfer saga

A move across the capital from Stamford Bridge to The Valley would have represented a fourth temporary departure from Chelsea for the 23-year-old who joined from Molde in January 2023.

Fofana is yet to source regular minutes in English football despite a 14-game spell in the Premier League with Burnley which yielded one goal in the second half of the Clarets' relegation season of 2023/24, before Hull City and Sunderland also failed to land loan deals for the forward last summer.

It looked as if the striker would be headed for the Championship for the first time in his career on Monday though, with it being reported initially that Charlton were in the driving seat to strike a loan agreement ahead of divisional rivals, Preston North End, before Celtic submitted a loan bid of their own after failing to sign Kasper Dolberg.

In a shock turn of events, Fofana snubbed the Scottish giants in favour of a move to SE7 in what would have been a major coup for the newly-promoted side, only for the aforementioned paperwork mishap to put a spanner in the works and cause the move to collapse.

Given the quality and different dimensions the attacker would have brought to Charlton, Hendrie believed it was a "massive blow" for the club when speaking exclusively to Football League World.

"I think any deal that's blown away at the last minute is always a sucker punch," the former midfielder began.

"You set your sights on bringing players in. That probably was their first choice, and for it to collapse and be pulled will be a massive, massive blow for them (Charlton).

"(They've got) fresh, new ideas and Fofana would have been a really good coup for them. Unfortunately, we'll never know that until maybe it does rekindle in the January window."

Charlton Athletic may swoop to sign David Datro Fofana on loan in January

With Fofana so far down the pecking order in West London despite the recent injury to Liam Delap, the likelihood of him getting much gametime besides limited opportunities in the EFL Cup seems extremely low, hence why he was so keen to make another loan switch before the deadline.

For now, at least, Charlton have to make do with what they have, although they are currently the second-lowest scorers in the Championship after the opening four matches.

If goal threat remains low at The Valley, as Hendrie alluded to, we will truly find out how high Fofana was on Jones' list of targets by seeing if the aforementioned interest is rekindled right from the very start of the transfer window.

Charlton return to action after the September international break with a South London derby on home turf against Millwall, which would also have been an eye-opening encounter for Fofana to start his proposed loan stint.