Nathan Jones should offer £11.8m Aston Villa player Charlton Athletic escape route | OneFootball

Charlton Athletic should plot a move for Aston Villa winger Samuel Iling-Junior this summer

Charlton Athletic are looking to cement their status as a Championship club with a strong summer window, and as head coach Nathan Jones remains busy at work adding to his squad, a loan move for a Premier League winger ought to be on the cards.

It's been a relatively busy summer for Charlton so far, with the Addicks having added five new faces to their ranks, and with less than two weeks until the start of the new Championship season, more will almost certainly be on their way.

Karlan Grant has returned to The Valley on a free transfer following his release from West Bromwich Albion, whilst Danny McNamara also joins on a free transfer following his release from Millwall, as Ivan Mesik, Billy Koumetio, and Millenic Alli have all arrived in East London on permanent deals, too.

The loan market was one Charlton targeted last summer, as well as in January, as each of Harry Clarke, Luke Chambers, Conor Coady, and Jayden Fevrier have all left the English capital this summer to return to their parent clubs.

However, Jones should look to utilise this market once again, and ought to target a move for a player with top-flight experience in Italy, and cost an eight-figure sum just a couple of years ago.

Charlton Athletic should look to sign Aston Villa winger Samuel Iling-Junior this summer

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With Chambers heading back to Liverpool, there remains a big gap at left wing-back at The Valley for Jones to fill.

19-year-old Ibrahim Fullah deputised there on 11 occasions last season, but whether he is ready to step into that void and have a positive impact on the Charlton squad, at this stage, remains to be seen, as an alternative should be sought in the transfer market.

Samuel Iling-Junior is a player Jones should consider making a swoop for this summer, with the 22-year-old Englishman likely available for transfer or loan this summer from Aston Villa.

Born and raised in London, having spent time in the youth system of Chelsea, Iling-Junior made the switch to Turin with Juventus in 2020, and would go on to make 45 first-team appearances for the Old Lady before securing an £11.8 million return to England with Aston Villa in the summer of 2024.

However, the winger, who is also capable of playing as a left-back or left wing-back, has failed to make a single senior appearance for the Villains since, spending time out on loan with Bologna, Middlesbrough, West Bromwich Albion, and Pisa, to varying degrees of success.

Why Samuel Iling-Junior to Charlton Athletic makes sense

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Charlton needs a left wing-back, and Iling-Junior has proven for multiple clubs that he is more than capable of playing that position to great effect.

With Boro, under Michael Carrick, the Englishman was initially utilised as a right-winger, but switched to a left-back in a back four, where he would grab one goal and two assists from that position on Teesside.

With West Brom, he would again be utilised on the right side of attack, but struggled to make an impact under James Morrison, and eventually moved back out to left wing-back before being recalled in January and sent back to Italy with Pisa instead.

Whilst he has failed to put up admirable numbers at this stage of his career, being 22, there is still more than enough time for the former England youth international to come good, as with nearly a half-century of appearances for Juventus' first-team, there is clearly something about him.

Iling-Junior needs to find a home, and a position in which he can thrive, and a return to the city where he was born and raised, playing in a position he has proven to be effective in, makes total sense.

Under contract until the summer of 2029, a permanent switch, unless Villa are willing to take a huge hit after two years, almost certainly isn't on the cards; a loan move, however, surely is.

With experience of playing in the Italian top-flight, as well as 40 appearances in the Championship, Iling-Junior could be a real coup for Charlton this summer, and should be on Jones would be remiss to not explore.

Nathan Jones must utilise the loan market once again before the end of the window to bolster Charlton Athletic's ranks and should consider Samuel Iling-Junior

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As the transfer window draws closer to a close, the loan market always tends to pick up, with teams having made their decision on who will be a part of their squads for the upcoming season.

Iling-Junior almost certainly won't be a part of Unai Emery's Villa squad for the upcoming campaign, and with a sale unlikely, a loan move elsewhere seems to be the likeliest option.

Returning to his birthplace may be the best move for Iling-Junior at this stage in his career, and guaranteed to earn a lot of minutes for Charlton, it could be a match made in heaven, as Jones must get this one over the line.