Home alone antics – Charlton Athletic striker on ‘crazy’ period which has seen him scoring goals and smashing his exams

BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Scoring in back-to-back League One matches would already have made the past 10 days memorable for Daniel Kanu. But Charlton Athletic’s teenage striker has also excelled off the pitch.

The 18-year-old netted his first league goal in last Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat to Bristol Rovers at The Valley. And he followed that up with a deft headed finish from Corey Blackett-Taylor’s cross on Saturday, the only downside being that Port Vale won 3-2 in SE7 to take maximum points.

Yet there is more. Kanu gained a double distinction in a BTEC for sporting excellence and performance – a mandatory subject requirement for all scholarship age players at Charlton – but also took an extra subject and gained an A grade in A-level business.

All of that happened while his parents and siblings were on holiday in Marseille.

“They missed everything,” said Kanu, speaking to the South London Press at Charlton’s Sparrows Lane training ground. “They came back on Monday to a load of matchday programmes, a bottle of Champagne and a few results.

“They couldn’t believe it, really, even though I told them on the phone. Now they are thinking of kicking me out of the house because they think I work better by myself! I hope it doesn’t happen, I like having them around.

“It’s crazy how all this got crammed into one week and not split up.

“It was horrible at the back end of last season, getting ready for exams and having to travel up to Morecambe, Manchester United, Plymouth and then come back.

“You take your laptop, saying that you’re going to study on the way there. You can’t. Then there is no way in hell that you’re going to do it on the way home. Then you get home and wake up Sunday morning and don’t really want to do anything.

“I worked hard, alongside the teaching staff. My BTEC was probably the most satisfying because Joe Francis, who is head of education here, worked really hard with me – I’d missed quite a few lessons compared to everyone else.

“I was getting home from Manchester United or Morecambe at five or six in the morning, so there was no way I was making it in for nine in the morning for lessons. I had to work with Joe to grind out the BTEC results.”

Kanu is planning to use his business qualification to help with managing the money he earns in his career – preferring to trust himself for any investments.

“If you make it to the very, very top then you earn a lot of money,” he said. “Being able to manage that properly by yourself, rather than having other people manage it for you, is really good to learn.

“I enjoyed it because I knew it would be something that would help me in the future.

“If it was maths or English I would’ve got a U (ungraded). I don’t think I’d have had the energy to do a training session, then go gym before going home and studying maths.”

Kanu got his first senior game time last season when injuries to Chuks Aneke, Conor Washington and Jayden Stockley opened the door.

The opportunity at the beginning of the current campaign partly came down to depleted numbers in that department again. Miles Leaburn is closing in on a return from an ankle injury suffered in the opening pre-season friendly against Welling while Aneke is sidelined once more.

There is intent from Charlton’s new ownership to add a number nine before the transfer window closes.

Kanu leads the club’s scoring charts with three goals, also notching in the EFL Cup reverse to Newport County.

“All my goals this season have been what I’m about – instinctive finishing,” he said.

“Corey crossed it quite early on Saturday. The type of player he is, I thought he might try to beat the defender for pace and then cross it.

“I didn’t really have much time to think about it – just get my head on it and guide it in the other corner. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to recreate that in my life ever again.

“You can ask the lads, I’ve never done that ever before.

“There is all the work we do with the coaches as well to hone that instinctiveness – because we do a lot of crossing and finishing practises.

“I want to keep helping the team do better and better. I’m sure the results will come with that.

“In any walk of life you need an opportunity to show what you’re capable of. I got a couple last season.

“The amount I’m getting this season is a lot more and I feel I’ve taken those opportunities a lot better than I did last season.

“I had to be patient, that’s the main thing, waiting my turn but also maintaining training standards.

“I’m trying to be the best person I can be every day, so when I put my head on my pillow every night I can tell myself: ‘I worked hard today and gave it my all’. It seems to be paying off at the moment.”

Kanu has been hugely prolific at junior age groups for Charlton. Put simply, he’s used to scoring goals.

“I’d like to say it is a God given-talent, the positions I’m able to find myself in,” he said. “One thing I know about myself is I will create a chance, whether it is for me or for someone else – that I’ll just be in the right position to shoot. It’s probably why I score so many goals – I’m very optimistic.

“I want to keep on going. This is all mental to me. I want to keep enjoying it and training well, getting to know my team-mates even better.”

PICTURES: KYLE ANDREWS AND KEITH GILLARD