Charlton Athletic must avoid "disastrous” Bolton transfer | OneFootball

FLW's Charlton Fan Pundit has been urged to avoid the signing of Bolton Wanderers attacker John McAtee.

Charlton Athletic have started their season with a win in the Championship, but some concern has been expressed about links to Bolton Wanderers attacker John McAtee.

On the opening weekend of the Championship campaign, Charlton got off the mark with three points as they came from a goal down to defeat Derby County by two goals to one at The Valley in South London.

In the aftermath of that victory, reports have emerged linking Charlton, along with Championship new boys Cardiff City and Lincoln City, as well as League One giant Sheffield Wednesday, with Bolton forward John McAtee.

McAtee started Bolton’s own opening day 2-1 win as they returned to the second-tier by defeating Preston North End, with McAtee crucial in both of Bolton’s goals, including grabbing the assist for their second.

However, despite a strong showing from the former Luton Town and Barnsley man, Charlton have been urged to avoid bringing him before the close of the summer transfer window.

Charlton urged to avoid John McAtee signing

Soccer Football - League One - Play Off - Semi Final - Second Leg - Bolton Wanderers v Barnsley - Toughsheet Community Stadium, Bolton, Britain - May 7, 2024 Bolton Wanderers' Ricardo Almeida Santos in action with Barnsley's John Mcatee Action Images/Lee Smith EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO USE WITH UNAUTHORIZED AUDIO, VIDEO, DATA, FIXTURE LISTS, CLUB/LEAGUE LOGOS OR 'LIVE' SERVICES. ONLINE IN-MATCH USE LIMITED TO 120 IMAGES, NO VIDEO EMULATION. NO USE IN BETTING, GAMES OR

Charlton have brought in a couple of attackers this summer with the additions of Millenic Alli and Karlan Grant, while defenders Ivan Mesik, Billy Koumetio and Danny McNamara also arriving alongside defensive midfield duo Nathaniel Chalobah and Timothy Ouma.

Despite remaining active in the transfer market, links to John McAtee have now necessarily gone down too well, as explained by FLW’s Charlton Fan Pundit Chris Woodward.

Chris says: “I’ll be shocked if there are any sort of truths to the links to John McAtee – signing him would make absolutely zero sense.

“He’s come off an underwhelming League One season so I don’t know how he would justify making the move upwards to a more stable Championship side.

“In addition, we have (Sonny) Carey, (Harvey) Knibbs and even (Joe) Rankin-Costello, even Grant, who have all played attacking midfielders for us or who, respectfully, are much better players than McAtee. He wouldn’t even make our bench when everyone is fit.

“He’s not the sort of personality or profile that Nathan Jones likes, and it is well-documented we are only looking to bring in a natural winger and a goalkeeper for the rest of the window.

“Even Bolton fans don’t seem to rate him too highly, and he’s their only fit attacking midfielder, which says a lot.

“He’s not even at an age where you can justify that he can develop. No matter how you look at it, whether that’s age, position, personality, playing style, quality – he ticks absolutely none of the boxes that would make signing him worthwhile.

“I’m convinced this is agent talk because if there is any hint of truth in this then it would be a disastrous signing for Charlton to make.”

John McAtee does not seem like an exact fit for Charlton

Under the management of Nathan Jones, Charlton have flickered between a back four and a back three, but one thing that has always remained is a requirement for industry in every position using any formation, regardless of the player.

Industry is something that John McAtee has been able to show at Bolton, endearing him to supporters despite a general lack of consistency and overall quality on the ball.

His preferred position, though, as he himself has said, is the ‘number ten’ role – something that is unlikely to ever really be afforded to himself at The Addicks.

Sonny Carey has thrived in that position since moving to Charlton from Blackpool last summer and, as Chris says, with some capable understudies such as Harvey Knibbs in behind, McAtee would surely have to rediscover the striking role to get many minutes.

As a result, a move to Charlton does feel unlikely because the Walkden-born forward would surely prefer to remain put at the Toughsheet Community Stadium, fighting for minutes in his preferred role, than fight for minutes out of position elsewhere.

John McAtee needs to be loved

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Wherever he does eventually end up, it wouldn't be unreasonable to suggest that John McAtee is a player that just needs to be loved and thrives when he has the backing of and a relationship with his supporters.

Lacking confidence in his debut season at Bolton, McAtee came in for criticism and didn't necessarily show the personality that he displayed when being a thorn in Bolton's side at Barnsley, where he was also lauded and loved by supporters.

However, benefitting from the bigger occasions of the play-off semi-finals and final as well as the opening day of Bolton's return to the Championship, McAtee's enthusiasm and industry has returned - as well as more of a deft, technical touch that has helped him affect big games for Wanderers in the last few months.

Combining that with his not necessarily new but certainly developed relationship with the supporters, especially being in the thick of the celebrations with fans post-Wembley, McAtee has begun to re-establish himself as close to a fans' favourite within the Bolton fanbase.

That said, many Bolton fans would not see it as the end of the world if he was to depart and as explained by Chris, he would need to win over the Charlton fanbase while also not necessarily being lauded as a star signing at Sheffield Wednesday, either.

If McAtee was to depart, it would have to be for a better situation and circumstance than he currently has at Bolton, which is one of a strong relationship between himself and supporters while also fighting for minutes in his preferred position - rather than being on the back foot from the off.