Charlton Athletic helped to create £3m Burnley star - Addicks fans saw him flourish | OneFootball

Josh Cullen spent two seasons on loan with Charlton Athletic before going on to star in the Premier League with Burnley

Josh Cullen is the current captain of Burnley in the Premier League, and does not look out of place in the Clarets' midfield in the top flight. However, it was his time with Charlton Athletic that helped him flourish into the player he has become today.

Born in England to Irish descent, Cullen joined the West Ham academy in 2005 and would progress through to the first team before making his first-team debut for the Hammers in a Europa League qualifying match against Andorran outfit Lusitanos.

The midfielder would go on to play three times in the qualifying phase for the Hammers, and would spend time out on loan with the likes of Bradford City on two separate occasions, Bolton Wanderers, and Charlton Athletic, where he enjoyed the most success out of the loan spells he had.

With Bradford, he made 40 appearances in League One across the 2016/17 season, helping the Bantams reach the play-off final, where he would play the full 90 minutes in a 1-0 loss to Millwall.

Cullen spent just half a season with Bolton in the Championship the season after, before returning to West Ham in January 2018, and would play just six minutes across two Premier League matches during the second half of the campaign as he struggled to break into the Hammers' midfield.

Having been unable to certify himself in West Ham's midfield, he would yet again head out on loan for the 2018/19 season, this time with Charlton in League One, where he enjoyed much more success.

Josh Cullen spent two seasons on loan with Charlton Athletic

Having struggled to make his mark in the Premier League, Cullen joined Lee Bowyer's Charlton in the third tier for the season and would instantly become an integral figure in the Addicks midfield alongside Joe Aribo and Darren Pratley.

The Irishman grabbed an assist on his debut for the club, setting up Krystian Bielik for the winning goal away to Southend United in a 2-1 victory, and would start 11 of his first 12 games for the club, before a dislocated shoulder kept him out of action for over two months.

Upon his return, he was immediately reinstated into the side, and Charlton would go on to finish 3rd in League One, qualifying for the play-offs. The Addicks would defeat Doncaster Rovers over two legs before a late Patrick Bauer goal in the play-off final against Sunderland secured promotion to the Championship, with Cullen playing every single minute during the play-off run.

The 29-year-old would once again return to Charlton the following season in what was only his second taste of Championship football, and would yet again prove to be a mainstay in the midfield, with Pratley, Erhun Oztumer, George Lapslie, Adedeji Oshilaja, and a certain Conor Gallagher providing competition this time around.

Cullen would make 34 second-tier appearances across the campaign, scoring once and assisting twice as Charlton were narrowly relegated in 22nd place, with the Irishman having torn his ankle ligaments midway through the season, keeping him out for 11 games, in which Charlton won just one of those.

Although his time with the Addicks would end on a sour note, his spell at The Valley provided him with the springboard he needed to take his game to the next level.

Josh Cullen has flourished into a solid Premier League captain and has become a regular for the Republic of Ireland side

Upon his return to West Ham at the end of the season, it was made clear that Cullen would still not have a role in the Hammers' midfield, and he would leave to join Belgian side Anderlecht, managed by former Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany, for a mere £500k.

A year on following his exit, he said: "It felt like the right time to move on and I only look back on my time at West Ham with fond memories. I’m just grateful to everyone at the club. I was there for 15 years [and came] through the academy and I could sit here all day and list names and thank so many people for making me into the player and person I am today.

"Coming through the academy at West Ham [and being] surrounded by good people and then stepping into the first-team environment and learning off of top players and top managers was a period in my life I will never forget. I only look back on my time there with good memories."

Cullen would make 80 appearances for Anderlecht across two seasons in the Belgian capital, and would incidentally follow Kompany to Turf Moor to join Burnley in July 2022 for just £3 million, where he has since gone from strength to strength in what has proved to be an absolute bargain.

The Irishman has enjoyed two separate promotions with the Clarets since joining and was named captain of the side following the departure of Josh Brownhill at the end of the 2024/25 season.

Cullen is now a certified Premier League regular and looks set to reach over 50 caps for the Irish national team in the near future, but with Charlton providing him with the platform, he may never have made it to where he is today.