South London Press analysis on the transfer window activity of Palace, Millwall, Charlton, AFC Wimbledon and Bromley

BY RICHARD CAWLEY AND EDMUND BRACK

The winter transfer window is now closed and our South London clubs have ceased trading – until it all starts again in the summer.

Here we take a look at the business done.

CRYSTAL PALACE

PERMANENT TRANSFERS IN: Romain Esse (Millwall).

LOANS IN: Ben Chiwell (Chelsea).

LOANS OUT: Rob Holding (Sheffield United), Jeffrey Schlupp (Celtic), Tayo Adaramola (Bradford City), Luke Plange (Motherwell).

MOST EXCITING SIGNING: It’s pretty obvious the standout one is Romain Esse. Bringing a talented player from the Championship to Selhurst Park has been a winning formula for Palace in recent seasons. Esse’s ability to cut in on his left foot from the right-hand side has been an attribute missing from the Palace squad since Michael Olise left for Bayern Munich in the summer. He is still young at 19, so he will be given time to adapt to the Premier League.

ANY EARLY IMPACT FROM THE ADDITIONS?: Esse scored with his very first touch in a Crystal Palace shirt, netting in the 2-1 defeat at home Brentford.

ONE PLAYER THEY WOULD NOT HAVE WANTED TO LOSE IN THE WINDOW: Marc Guehi. After Chelsea recalled Trevoh Chalobah, it was paramount that the Eagles kept hold of Guehi. Spurs bid £70million for the defender in the final days of the window, but Palace did not want to lose Guehi, who has 18 months to go on his deal, so late on.

OVERVIEW OF THEIR TRADING: Lack of ambition. Palace are just seven points off Europe at the close of the window, but the squad is still deficient and just a handful of injuries away from chaos. Chadi Riad and Cheick Doucoure are both out for the season and Palace failed to bring in replacements for either of those. Daniel Munoz is still the only recognised first-team right wing-back at the club. And there was still room for another senior attacking number 10.

MILLWALL

PERMANENT TRANSFERS IN: Camiel Neghli (Sparta Rotterdam), Luke Cundle (Wolves), Tristan Crama (Brentford), Benicio Baker-Boitey (Brighton), Ajay Matthews (Middlesbrough), Aaron Connolly (Hull), Zak Lovelace (Rangers).

LOAN IN: Zak Sturge (Chelsea)

PERMANENT TRANSFERS OUT:
Romain Esse (Crystal Palace), Tom Bradshaw (Oxford United), Connal Trueman (Milton Keynes)

LOANS OUT: Adam Mayor (Bromley)

MOST EXCITING SIGNING: Has to be the club record deal for Camiel Neghli, who is set to get his first minutes in tomorrow’s FA Cup tie against Leeds United. The winger has a reputation for spectacular strikes – if he produces one at Elland Road then it will instantly put him in the good books of Millwall fans.

ANY EARLY IMPACT FROM THE ADDITIONS?: Absolutely. Central defender Tristan Crama has slotted in comfortably at right-back to cover the injuries to Ryan Leonard and Danny McNamara. Luke Cundle took 25 minutes to score on his debut against QPR at the weekend with Aaron Connolly, lively in the wins over Luton and Portsmouth, also netting at the weekend inside the opening 30 seconds.

ONE PLAYER THEY WOULD NOT HAVE WANTED TO LOSE IN THE WINDOW: Romain Esse. But, in saying that, you would also get Lions fans who would argue the wheels were more likely to come off the team if they had sold Japhet Tanganga. Unless the assured former Tottenham centre-back has a loss of form then he looks a shoe-in to be the club’s Player of the Season.

OVERVIEW OF THEIR TRADING:
Millwall owner James Berylson and director of football Steve Gallen had both talked about bringing down the age of the squad – as well as having footballers that had the potential to be sold on in the future. Connolly, who turned 25 at the end of January, is the oldest of the additions made – the rest are all under the age of 23.

CHARLTON ATHLETIC

LOAN TRANSFERS IN: Alex Gilbert (Middlesbrough), Tom McIntyre (Reading).

PERMANENT TRANSFERS OUT: Rarmani Edmonds-Green (Leyton Orient), Tayo Edun (Peterborough), Dan Potts (released)

LOANS OUT: Terry Taylor (Northampton), Zach Mitchell (St Johnstone), Nathan Asiimwe (Walsall)

MOST EXCITING SIGNING: Not a huge amount of activity by the Addicks. Gilbert is the only attacking transfer they made and is set to try and add extra fluency to their forward play. He is likely to contest that more advanced midfield berth with Luke Berry.

ANY EARLY IMPACT FROM THE ADDITIONS?: No. Both Gilbert and McIntyre arrived at the end of the transfer window and will be in contention for their first minutes in tomorrow’s home game against Stevenage.

ONE PLAYER THEY WOULD NOT HAVE WANTED TO LOSE IN THE WINDOW: Lloyd Jones. The big centre-back was linked with Wycombe last month but ended any speculation about his future by signing a new contract. Defensively the Addicks look so much more assured since the former Liverpool and Plymouth player returned from injury. He is so strong in the air and has also popped up with goals at the other end of the pitch.

OVERVIEW OF THEIR TRADING: Manager Nathan Jones talked about tapering his squad in the window and indicated before we got into the trading period that it would only be one or two transfers in. That’s exactly what has happened. Charlton have options in most positions on the pitch with Thierry Small’s performances at right wing-back, not his stronger foot, also dialling down the need to address that area. In summary, it was a low-key window.

AFC WIMBLEDON

PERMANENT TRANSFERS IN: Marcus Browne (free transfer), Osman Foyo (Ipswich), Sam Hutchinson (re-signed).

MOST EXCITING SIGNING: Marcus Browne. The free agent was training with Barnet before signing with the Dons until the end of the season. He is someone who has impressed at League One level and if it was not for his injuries, he would not be at this level of this stage of his career. If Browne can stay injury-free, he could make a creative difference through the middle to help the Dons over the line in their bid for promotion.

ANY EARLY IMPACT FROM THE ADDITIONS?: Browne has impressed off the bench and nearly netted a late winner in the 0-0 draw with Milton Keynes. Sam Hutchinson, who originally joined on a one-month deal, also produced a stellar performance at the back in the draw at Stadium MK.

ONE PLAYER THEY WOULD NOT HAVE WANTED TO LOSE IN THE WINDOW: Matty Stevens. With 13 League Two goals to his name, Wimbledon would not have wanted a repeat of January’s past in which they have lost star players – Ayoub Assal and Ali Al-Hamadi both departed for club record fees.

OVERVIEW OF THEIR TRADING: The best January window under Dons boss Johnnie Jackson. With no star players leaving and adding Browne and Foyo to help bolster creative options, Wimbledon have everything needed to make a play for automatic promotion to League One. There are at least two players for every position and the likes of Myles Hippolyte, Aron Sasu and Jake Reeves all returning from injury has been a welcome addition heading into the crunch point of the season.

BROMLEY

PERMANENT TRANSFERS IN: Ben Thompson (Stevenage), Brooklyn Ilunga (Milton Keynes), Nicke Kabamba (Barnet), Marcus Ifill (Brighton), Harry McKirdy (Hibernian).

LOANS IN: Adam Mayor (Millwall), Maldini Kacurri (Arsenal).

LOANS OUT: Myles Weston (Hornchurch), Besart Topalloj (Sutton United), Taylor Foran (Kidderminster).

MOST EXCITING SIGNING: Adam Mayor. The Lions loanee suffered an injury-hit first year at The Den. He has League Two experience from his time at Morecambe and was thrown straight into the starting line-up by Andy Woodman against Grimsby.

ANY EARLY IMPACT FROM THE ADDITIONS?: Ex-Millwall midfielder Thompson has continued to be an integral player under Woodman since making his loan deal a permanent switch.

ONE PLAYER THEY WOULD NOT HAVE WANTED TO LOSE IN THE WINDOW: Danny Imray, above. The Crystal Palace loanee was subject to a £750,000 bid from League One promotion hopefuls Wycombe. The right wing-back plays a vital role in Bromley’s attacking play and has been a strong early candidate for Player of the Season. Palace turned down the bid and the Ravens profited, keeping hold of Imray for the season.

OVERVIEW OF THEIR TRADING: Solid. Some good signings and cover should players pick up injuries. Kabamba has a knack of scoring goals and would provide good cover should Michael Cheek be ruled out during this part of the season. Ilunga will also be decent back-up and competition for Idris Odutayo, who no doubt will have his suitors at the end of the season.

 

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