Charlton Athletic signing Alfie May intent on statement season as he looks to ‘make up for lost time’

Dean Holden has talked about Alfie May’s desire to “make a statement” after signing for Charlton Athletic.

The 30-year-old striker, a former Millwall trainee, has scored 20-plus goals for Cheltenham Town in the last two campaigns before penning a two-year contract with the Addicks at the end of last week.

May dropped into non-league football after his release by the Lions. His performances for Hythe Town led to Doncaster bringing him back into the professional game in 2017.

May struck 26 times in all competitions for Cheltenham in 2021-22 and then 22 in the season just completed.

Charlton could pay in the region of £250,000 for the Gravesend-born forward.

““We brought him in to score goals and he’s well aware of that,” Addicks boss Holden told the South London Press. “It’s the first thing he said to me, that he’s got his own targets. He’s very ambitious.

“He’s got a great story. He came out of the game at a young age and fell into cricket, he loves his cricket, and then drifted back into football, accidentally I suppose.

“He’s done it the hard way. He wanted to come here and make a statement. He is planning on making up for lost time. He wants to play as high as he can and feels we’re the club that is going to get him there.

“We watched him in the warm-up before the last game of last season (when Charlton played at Cheltenham). Dobbo (George Dobson) and Josh (Hill), the analyst, said he was driving the warm-up. It was the last game, he’d scooped all the player of the year awards and there was nothing on the game – in terms of league position – but he was driving it.

“He’s a leader and we’ve had some really good conversations about that. He will come in as one of the leaders and help the youngsters around him.

“There is nothing like an attitude of making up for lost time and making sure every second counts. He’s got an infectious personality.”

May’s arrival boosts Charlton’s firepower.

“He has got a lot of attributes,” said Holden. “He is a very, very prolific striker. He leaves everything on the pitch. He plays every game like it is his last. He runs on the shoulder, which is something we probably haven’t had enough of. He puts himself in positions and creates chances for other players and makes goals for himself.

“If it drops around the box then more often than not he’ll give the goalkeeper a problem.”

“I’m over the moon. We got the call late Thursday afternoon that it was all officially done and he was in the car on the way over from Cheltenham. It was a long day, we were in there at seven in the morning and there until late at night – but it was worth waiting for.

“I’m really grateful that we’ve been able to get the deal done because there are lots of moving parts within that. He was absolutely desperate to come to us and we were desperate to get him.

“I said after the Welling game I was calm about where we were at in terms of recruitment. I think there were a few raised eyebrows, but I knew what was going on behind the scenes and that you are a phone call away from a deal dropping or falling through.

“We’ve still got some work to do but I’m really, really pleased we got him through the door.”