Charlton Athletic boss coy on transfer interest in Crystal Palace winger – but talks about ‘three positions’ that need strengthening

Charlton manager Ben Garner has declined to discuss their loan interest in Crystal Palace winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi.

The Addicks are keen to add the 19-year-old attacker to their squad.

Charlton owner Thomas Sandgaard told the South London Press earlier this week that they were in negotiations with the Premier League outfit over a temporary switch.

The Addicks have Chuks Aneke ruled out for the next couple of weeks with a calf injury he sustained in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Welling last Friday.

Asked by the South London Press about Rak-Sakyi, Garner said: “Once we sign any player, I’m happy to talk about them until the cows come home. Before anything is done, I won’t say anything on that.”

Aneke’s absence leaves Jayden Stockley as the only established striker who is fit on the club’s books. Teenager Miles Leaburn has broken into the senior set-up over the course of pre-season.

Asked if he was light in frontline options, Garner told the South London Press: “There are certain positions we’re still looking to add to. Sometimes there can be a little bit of an obssession with certain positions – centre-forward being one of them.

“The important thing for me is that we’ve got enough goals within the squad. That was key in the way my team played last season – goals were shared around and assists were shared around. We want goals from all avenues. For example, my top goalscorer last season played wide right.

“The goals need to come from everywhere. There are three positions that we’re looking at in particular, and feel we need to add. But it’s not as easy as people think, there aren’t a lot of these players in the market and there’s not a great deal of options we can just handpick. It has to be the players we want from a playing perspective, a character perspective – they have to fit within our structure in terms of finances and they have to want to come and play for Charlton Athletic.

“We’re working hard on it, hopefully we can get players in we want and feel can make a difference. We won’t just take someone for the sake of it.

“It’s also important we’ve got a pathway for our academy players and an opportunity for those, if they do well, to come and train with us, and try and fight their way into the team.”