Charlton Athletic’s summer spending blunders make Michail Antonio talk cringeworthy | OneFootball

Michail Antonio's links to Charlton Athletic highlight what a frustrating summer window in terms of attacking additions it was at the Valley

Michail Antonio is in talks with Charlton Athletic over what would be a miraculous return to domestic football over a year on from a near-fatal car crash, but a move for the Addicks would only emphasise how poor their summer business was at the top end of the pitch.

Antonio hasn't played club football since the car crash in December 2024, which shattered his femur bone in four different places and was released at the end of his contract with Premier League side West Ham United over the summer.

Reports are linking the 35-year-old with a move to Charlton, who are currently sat in the lower mid-table region in the Championship, but are doing enough to keep themselves at arm's length from the relegation zone.

The BBC have also stated that Qatari club Al-Saliya are interested in being the side that Antonio returns to club football with, but Addicks boss Nathan Jones admitted after their recent defeat against Portsmouth that the "wheels are in motion," surrounding talks about a move to the Valley.

If a move were to be made, it would mark a return to the Championship for the first time since he left Nottingham Forest for West Ham in 2016, and would provide Nathan Jones' side with 268 games of Premier League experience at the top end of the pitch.

However, it would also expose a lack of quality in their attacking additions across the summer transfer window even further — additions that Charlton spent a fair chunk of their transfer budget on.

Charlton Athletic shouldn't need extra attackers at this stage of the campaign after summer business

Charlton's promotion from League One in the 2024/25 campaign was built on the foundations of good defensive performances, showcased through the three clean sheets they kept in their play-off games, scoring just two goals.

Matty Godden led the way in terms of scoring, but then went under the knife at the end of the season for a procedure that has seen him just start to return in the last month.

In the meantime, Charlton needed to bring in attacking reinforcements. They arguably needed to anyway, ahead of their first Championship campaign since the 2019/20 season, but with Godden out for the foreseeable future, it became a top priority.

In came Tanto Oloafe initially, arriving from Stockport County for a reported £1.5 million. Later on in the window, Harvey Knibbs joined from Reading, with Charlton reportedly parting ways with £1.8 million for the 26-year-old, who netted 14 times from attacking midfield last season.

In the middle of that, though, was the high-profile arrival of Charlie Kelman, last season's top scorer in League One with Leyton Orient. The American was always set to leave QPR in the summer, and the Addicks paid £3.5 million initially, with add-ons taking it to £5 million for his services.

For a newly promoted side that doesn't have the backing that the likes of Birmingham City and Wrexham do, that's a fair chunk to be spending in your first summer window, and there would be expectations that they'd live up to the price tag and be serviceable options in their bid to stay up.

Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case.

Instead, Knibbs, despite scoring on the opening day, has played just over 500 minutes of league action this season, Kelman is in-and-out of the side and has yet to showcase his talents from last year, and Olaofe is back at Stockport on loan, after a disappointing opening half of the campaign.

Charlton already added to their striker contingency in January with Lyndon Dykes, and now they are also looking to bring in 35-year-old Antonio for his first domestic appearances in well over a year.

And, evidently, this isn't just paper-talk, as, after a defeat in a big midweek six-pointer down at the bottom of the table against Portsmouth, where none of his strikers found the target once more, Nathan Jones stated that the "wheels are in motion," surrounding a potential move, although he did admit that there was "nothing yet to share."

It's been a solid enough first year back in the second tier for the Addicks, and in the grand scheme of things, as long as they remain in the Championship, this year will go down as a successful one. However, that's evidently not been down to their business in the summer.

There's no doubt that Antonio would bring a wealth of experience to the club, and he could be a good veteran alongside Godden for the likes of Kelman and Miles Leaburn to learn from. If that was the reason for his arrival, then it would be praised massively.

But, with the current frontmen at the Valley not firing, and with Nathan Jones' side currently possessing one of the worst attacking outputs in the division, any attacking additions will be made to improve what is already there, which is a damning reflection of the summer additions.