Charlton Athletic can find perfect Thierry Small replacement at Leicester City – January move should be eyed | OneFootball

Charlton Athletic should finally replace Thierry Small with a move for Leicester City full-back Luke Thomas in the January transfer window.

Charlton Athletic have enjoyed an impressive start to their return to the Championship, with the Addicks flying high despite a recent 1-0 loss to Wrexham, and they should be looking to further strengthen in the January transfer window with the addition of Leicester City full-back Luke Thomas.

Following their promotion to the second tier via the League One play-off's last season, Charlton have embarked upon a strong start to this campaign as they push up towards the top six.

The pre-season goal will have been to stave off relegation and become a competitive side somewhere in the bottom-half of the table, but a fairly ambitious and big-spending summer transfer window may well have slightly shifted those aspirations.

It would still take something fairly spectacular for Charlton to find themselves in the top six come the end of the campaign, but they head into the winter with very few problems to solve and a position of strength from which to build.

One issue that occurred right at the start of the summer but was perhaps never really addressed or fixed was on the left-side of the defence, following the departure of Thierry Small to Preston North End on a free transfer.

A move for Leicester’s Thomas could be the answer for Nathan Jones, especially with the former Southampton boss having now shifted to a back three with wing-backs system at The Valley.

Charlton Athletic should eye a move for Leicester City's Luke Thomas

Thierry Small was a key part of the Charlton side that gained promotion before he moved to Deepdale over the summer, and the Addicks then focused on other areas of the squad.

Amari’i Bell arrived from Luton Town with many believing that he would form the left-hand side of a back three for Charlton, but Jones began the campaign with Bell playing at left-back in a flat four.

However, with the squad seemingly ideally setup for a back three, especially with the number of very good centre-backs that they have as well as the additions of James Bree and Joe Rankin-Costello, and even then Onel Hernandez in late-September, the switch has since been made.

That does leave Charlton a little short in the left wing-back role, with only really Josh Edwards an out-and-out player for that position, and there would have to be question marks over his quality for Championship level.

Tyreece Campbell even filled in there for Charlton against Wrexham, whilst Bell has played there too, but it is quite a defensive option, with the Jamaica international more suited to being a part of the back three.

Luke Thomas is an attacking full-back that has played at wing-back for both Leicester and Sheffield United, during a loan stint with the Blades, and is the profile of left-back that would appear more suited to being a wing-back, with a desire to get forward is the primary quality.

Thomas does have some defensive nous and has developed a fair bit of pedigree from his time in the Premier League, and that continuing raising of the floor in a squad that was in League One last season would appear ideal for both Charlton and Jones.

Luke Thomas could be on the move from Leicester

It could well be that Leicester opt to try and have a major reshuffling of their squad in the winter, should they be allowed to amid the potential restrictions imposed upon them.

The Foxes were threatened with an EFL points deduction over the summer, and no decision has yet been made, with just a free transfer and three deadline day loan deals representing their incoming business over the window.

That said, should they be able to function and operate more freely in the market, then Leicester will be keen on reshaping their squad, and both left-backs, Victor Kristiansen and Thomas could be players that are moved on.

Thomas is someone that Leicester have previously shipped out on loan twice, to Middlesbrough as well as Sheffield United, and so his departure would be no surprise despite the fact he has been able to carve out a significant role in Marti Cifuentes' side so far this season.

The structure and intense coaching of Jones could be what harnesses what was once an exciting talent, and Charlton lining up a move for the Leicester full-back may well be a good move for all parties this winter.