Walsall will be fearing nightmare transfer repeat – Peterborough & Plymouth Argyle should be ready to pounce | OneFootball

Walsall will be fearing a Nathan Lowe repeat with Daniel Kanu this January. Peterborough United and Plymouth Argyle should be interested.

It has been another impressive start to the season for Walsall as they head deeper into the winter, but there will be a concern that history could repeat itself in the January transfer window.

Last season, with the Saddlers setting a brilliant pace at the top of the League Two table, Stoke City opted to recall key man and the division’s top scorer Nathan Lowe, with Walsall then going off the rails in the second-half of the campaign. There will now be a concern the same could happen with Charlton Athletic loanee Daniel Kanu.

Walsall eventually succumbed to a fourth-place finish in the fourth-tier, due to Bradford City scoring deep into second-half stoppage-time on the final day of the campaign, having been 15 points clear of fourth and 12 clear at the top-of-the-table in January.

A play-off final defeat to AFC Wimbledon then followed and the pressure majorly grew on Mat Sadler, but the club stuck by him, and he has rebuilt the squad to an impressive degree.

First-choice goalkeeper Tommy Simkin, who was also on loan from Stoke, departed alongside Taylor Allen and David Okagbue, who were sold on to Wycombe Wanderers and Peterborough United respectively, whilst Oisin McEntee, Liam Gordon and Ryan Stirk all also departed.

Incoming business was frequent but smart at the Bescot Stadium and one of their perhaps more under the radar but seemingly genius pick-ups was the loan addition of Kanu from Charlton.

His recent form, though, would raise concerns that history could repeat itself for Walsall and, if so, then Peterborough, as well as fellow League One strugglers Plymouth Argyle, should be lining up a move for the 20-year-old.

Walsall will fear Nathan Lowe repeat with Daniel Kanu

Having come through the productive academy of Charlton Athletic, 21-year-old Daniel Kanu has already made 71 first-team appearances for the Addicks, including one in the EFL Cup earlier this season.

It was therefore a bit of a coup, and very smart business, for Walsall to land the Lambeth-born Sierra Leone international with a week or so to go in the campaign.

Kanu, who has twice won Charlton’s Young Player of the Year award, which is a very good achievement given the recent success of their youth setup, started brilliantly with three goals in successive matches in September, earning him the EFL Young Player of the Month award.

He has already struck six times across all competitions for Walsall, having notched in their recent 4-2 defeat of Newport County at Rodney Parade, a week after a supreme performance against Eastleigh in the first round of the FA Cup.

An out-and-out striker, Kanu has produced some excellent finishes for Walsall, with a good tactical awareness of how to drag a defender out of position and get them turned in the channel between centre-back and full-back, with the technical proficiency to finish powerfully and adeptly.

Last season, Nathan Lowe had reached 18 goals and seven assists in 30 matches across all competitions for Walsall before his mid-January recall by Stoke.

In League Two alone, Lowe hit 15 goals, with only six players having scored more than the young striker across the whole campaign, and only one of those players (Michael Cheek) scoring 20 or more in the fourth tier; with Lowe on course to have done so by mid-to-late-February.

Kanu isn't quite as prolific as that just yet, but if his form continues to improve as it has done of late, then double figures for goals is well within reach by the turn of the year.

Walsall and Sadler appear to have unearthed another gem in League Two, but they will be concerned that their season could yet be derailed again, as they once again sit at the top-of-the-table in the fourth division.

Peterborough and Plymouth should be ready to pounce on Daniel Kanu

If indeed what happened last season was to happen again, and Charlton opted to recall Kanu in January, perhaps to bring him into the first-team setup again at The Valley but more likely to get him playing regularly at a higher level than League Two, then Peterborough and Plymouth should be putting themselves right at the front of the queue.

Scouring the market for unpolished diamonds in the EFL and transforming them into reasonably big money sales is the go-to methodology at Peterborough, and Kanu would appear ripe for that sort of model.

For the here and now, though, he would also appear ideal for the attacking and front foot style of football that Luke Williams is likely to try and consistently implement at London Road.

Having played a 4-2-3-1 in their 5-0 demolition of AFC Wimbledon, Kanu would provide excellent competition for former Blackburn Rovers striker Harry Leonard, whilst also seeming to have the attributes to play as a narrow forward, akin to both Abraham Odoh and Kyrell Lisbie. The fluidity of Williams’ style means that a striker such as Kanu can fit in across that front-line and thrive.

Plymouth are in desperate need of reinforcements across the park but one area of the pitch that could do with real repair would be up-front, with Lorent Tolaj needing some support.

The big-money summer signing from Port Vale has shown some positive signs but his best football, both with the Valiants and previously at Aldershot Town, has come when part of a front two.

The attributes brought to the table by Kanu would be ideally suited to a front two and that would therefore be beneficial for Tolaj, whilst also providing Plymouth with some much-needed variation and added firepower.