Charlton Athletic warned against Leeds United transfer 'risk' | OneFootball

FLW's Charlton fan pundit doesn't feel that Harry Gray would be a good loan target for the Addicks this January

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Harry Gray is seemingly a striker in hot demand, as a whole host of Championship clubs are gearing up to take the 17-year-old on loan this January.

Having scored five goals in six Premier League 2 games, alongside a couple in the EFL Trophy, for Leeds United's U21s, it's clear that the exciting prospect is ready for senior football, despite only being old enough to sign his first professional contract in late October.

Having become the latest in the Gray family to make his Leeds debut in the Championship towards the tail end of last season, Alan Nixon is reporting that Derby County, Swansea City, Hull City and Charlton Athletic are interested in allowing him a longer stint in the second tier to make an impact.

However, despite how hotly-rated the 17-year-old is, FLW's Charlton fan pundit, Alfie, isn't fully sold, feeling that he doesn't usurp any of the current strikers at The Valley, or a soon-to-return Matty Godden, from the starting lineup.

Charlton Athletic fan pundit has faith in current striker options, despite barren drought

So far this season, Nathan Jones' Addicks have prided themselves on a good defence.

Whilst goals themselves haven't been a glaring issue, having the second-best goals against tally has helped overshadow an attack which is in the lower percentile for goals scored in the division.

Charlton bolstered their attacking line this summer with the additions of Charlie Kelman and Tanto Olaofe, with at least a combined £5 million being spent on them both.

Despite their scoring records in the third and fourth tiers, they haven't been able to set the world alight in the Championship. However, Alfie has faith that they'll be able to pull their goalscoring weight soon enough, and that, alongside the goals contrbuted by midfielders, will see them through.

That's not to say that he doesn't think Gray is good enough — but he feels that it's a "risk" that his side shouldn't have to take.

"Harry Gray is an interesting prospect," he said. "I didn't know much about him until these links, and I've since seen that he's doing well at youth level, but a lot of strikers can be great at that level but not replicate it when they make the step-up.

"So, it's a bit of a risk, especially as he's 17 years old. He'll have a lot of filling out to do, and he won't necessarily be ready for the Championship.

"Is it a risk we're willing to take? I'm not sure, especially as we're collectively not struggling for goals this season, whilst it's true that our strikers are.

"We have about three or four on our books at the moment, and they've scored two goals between them!"

With Matty Godden yet to feature for Charlton this season after undergoing knee surgery over the summer, Alfie is convinced that his return will see an influx in the number of goals his side are scoring.

The 34-year-old veteran frontman was the Addicks' top scorer last season with 22 goals in all competitions, and his return, alongside the current crop of strikers hitting form, means that a move for Gray will be unnecessary.

"We've got Godden coming back, who was a massive part of our promotion campaign last season," he explained.

"He's very positionally intelligent, knows where the goal is and knows how to get in the right positions, so I'm anticipating that he'll make quite an impact when he returns.

"So, when you bare that in mind, he's returning, and we have three other strikers who, granted, haven't scored many yet this season, but I think they'll score more."

Charlton Athletic fan pundit urges club to look closer to home if they're going to rely on youth prospects this January

Whilst Gray is one of England's top attacking prospects, Alfie believes that, if Charlton are to go down the youth route this winter, they should look at their own academy, especially if any attacking incomings would be playing second fiddle to what they already have.

Alfie highlighted Micah Mbick, who currently has five goals in 12 games on loan at Colchester United.

Despite this being for a League Two side, the fan pundit reckons that he'd have enough to make a good enough impact in the Championship, and it means that the Addicks wouldn't be spending a few months developing a player from another club.

"If we're turning towards youth, I'd sooner rather Mbick return than loan someone else's youth product," he said.

"He's an exciting striker at Colchester at the moment, and highlights Charlton's fantastic academy. I'm sure we could bring in someone from there, obviously not on Gray's level, but at a level where they could make an impact.

"So I'm not exactly up for this transfer. Maybe if we got more injuries it would make sense, but as it is now, I'm not up for it."

Ultimately, Charlton wouldn't have come into this campaign expecting to land in the play-offs, but after having a sniff of it in the early stages of the year, it would make sense to pursue it.

That being said, they'll likely need to average more than a goal a game for it to happen, so links to exciting, young goalscorers make sense at this moment in time.

However, when Godden comes back, you'd expect him to retake his place leading the line and stay there for the rest of the season if he remains fit. If he can replicate his scoring success from last season, Charlton will be fine.