https://www.charltonafc.com/news/done-deal-terell-thomas-returns-addicksCharlton Athletic are delighted to confirm the permanent signing of centre-back Terell Thomas.
The Saint Lucian international becomes the Addicks' eighth summer signing following the arrivals of Eoghan O'Connell, Mandela Egbo, Joe Wollacott, Conor McGrandles, Steven Sessegnon, Jack Payne and Jes Rak-Sakyi.
The 26-year-old, who has signed a one-year contract subject to EFL approval, explained he was excited to return to the Addicks having been with the club as a youngster. He said: "I'm really pleased to be back. I feel like I've got a lot of unfinished business here. When I was in the academy my dream was to break into the first team and now I have that opportunity so I'm very excited."
Manager Ben Garner was delighted to bolster his defensive ranks: “Terell joins us to provide greater depth and competition in the centre-back position. Terell also provides us with greater versatility in terms of our defensive structure.
"He has trained with us for the last three weeks so is already integrated with the squad. Being a former academy player he knows the club well. Terell has good experience playing from League Two through to the Championship and we are very pleased to welcome him into the squad.”
Owner and CEO Thomas Sandgaard added: “We wanted to add to our defensive options, so we’re really pleased to bring in Terell, who has impressed everyone with his ability and attitude while he has been training with us.”
Born in Rainham, Thomas began his youth career with Arsenal before joining the Addicks' academy as a teenager. He spent eight years with the club before joining Wigan Athletic in 2017. Following a successful loan spell with Sutton United, Thomas moved to AFC Wimbledon for an undisclosed fee and made 90 appearances during three seasons in west London. After leaving Wimbledon he joined Crewe Alexandra before joining Championship side Reading in late March following an impressive trial period.
The defender has two caps for Saint Lucia after making his international debut this summer.
Comments
But we should’ve signed a defender and striker in good time ages ago.
Posting the thread later will hopefully force through a striker on a free soon.
Hasn’t got experience playing for clubs with our expectations (I’m not counting a couple of games for Reading) but we’ve seen signings like CBT and Dobson do far more than Watson and Gunter, it shows there’s always potential for a signing like this to do well.
Another CB could also mean we’re more likely to use a back three. With Stockley struggling as a lone striker I wouldn’t rule out Garner switching to 3-5-2. With genuine wing backs in this squad and his possession style it should look very different to Jackson’s team.
That we didn't seem to be chasing defenders on deadline day suggested this was likely to happen
Might have been an unused sub.
Welcome TT. Not your fault the manner in which you joined or the general situation.
You are experienced at this level and been training for a while so reasonably fit so good luck and hope you do well for us
Hopefully he’ll see this as a chance to rebuild.
Welcome TT
Que…. Being told he chose us over a host of other clubs…..
How strange, that after all these years you end up back with us…….it’s a funny old game!
I see he has been training for three weeks which explains the change of priorities before the window closed
I'm sure we will all soon be wondering why Crewe terminated his contract last season.
Won't we?
Ding Dong
But forgive me if I have a few doubts.
https://cafcfactsstats.com/heritage-numbers/
I used a different source so hopefully it still counts. :-)
Ctrl+F to search for "Thomas" on the above webpage returns one result:
617. J Thomas v Leicester City (H) 1.5.2004
So no, Terell does not have a V number and will be eligible for one on his debut.
I particularly noted the part where Garner mentions that it gives us more defensive flexibility. Perhaps he has an eye on playing three at the back?