Charlton Athletic told they have dodged transfer bullet as £2.5m issue raised | OneFootball

It has been suggested that Charlton Athletic dodged a bullet by missing out on the signing of Abu Kamara to Portsmouth.

Charlton Athletic are gearing up for the 2026-27 Championship season with the aim to be to kick on and push into the middle-of-the-table, and it has been suggested that they have dodged a bullet by missing out on the signing of Abu Kamara.

Charlton gained promotion from League One via the play-offs in May 2025, defeating Leyton Orient by a goal to nil at Wembley Stadium.

The Addicks then signed and seemingly spent heavily, headlined by the £5 million addition of former O’s loanee Charlie Kelman from Queens Park Rangers.

The South Londoners, under the management of Nathan Jones, managed to eventually steer themselves clear of the bottom three and the relegation places, albeit the second half of the season left that up in the air for a while and they achieved safety in a more unconvincing manner than they would have liked.

That dip towards the end of the campaign was expected to spark a fairly busy summer transfer window but missing out on Kamara is not something that is worrying some Charlton supporters.

Abu Kamara fee deemed too high for Charlton

Portsmouth have completed the re-signing of former England youth international winger Abu Kamara for a fee believed to be worth £2.5 million from Hull City, who gained promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs last season.

Kamara spent the 2023-24 League One season on loan at Fratton Park from Norwich City, helping Pompey win the third-tier title and their supporters are excited about his return.

However, FLW’s Charlton Fan Pundit Chris Woodward is not too displeased by Kamara’s move to Pompey, suggesting that the fee would be too high for Charlton to take a risk on.

Chris says: “I think that missing out on Kamara was ultimately the right decision from Charlton.

“£2.5 million is not an outrageous sum given today’s market but you are basically offering that money based on one good season in League One three years ago.

“Like we find out when we signed (Rob) Apter and (Tanto) Olaofe, that one good season in League One does not translate immediately into the Championship.

“Pompey fans are basing him off that stint there. Look at Hull fans’ opinions, where he played at this level, and there is a lot of negative stuff regarding his attitude and work rate, which I don’t think would translate well to a Nathan Jones side.

“I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Millenic Alli signing but in 38 Championship appearances, he has five goals and two assists – and he cost £1 million up-front.

“Kamara, in 40 Championship appearances, has only managed one more assist, so we have played £1.5 million less up-front for essentially two similar players in terms of Championship output.

“Kamara is young and has potential but for where Charlton are as a club, I am more than happy to pass on them bringing in Kamara for £2.5 million.”

Nathan Jones may still want movement in attack at Charlton

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As well as the signing of Kelman last summer, Charlton also brought in Olaofe, Apter and Harvey Knibbs in forward positions alongside the loan signing of Jayden Fevrier and the permanent addition of Lyndon Dykes in the winter window.

Olaofe has since been loaned back out to Stockport County before joining Lincoln City this year, while Apter spent the back end of last season at Bolton Wanderers. Fevrier is now at Blackburn Rovers and Dykes has joined Millwall.

They have brought Karlan Grant back to the club from West Bromwich Albion, with Millenic Alli arriving from Luton Town, but work is still expected in forward positions.

Charlton do boast some depth in attack with Miles Leaburn and Matty Godden at the club, alongside Daniel Kanu and Micah Mbick, who went out on loan to League Two sides Walsall and Colchester United respectively last season.

There is talk that Preston North End remain keen on signing Tyreece Campbell from Charlton this summer and so their transfer window remains an active one.

While they have missed out on Kamara and while there are suggestions that may be no bad thing, it surely remains likely that Charlton will be keen on strengthening that area of the pitch before the close of the transfer window.