Micah Mbick and Daniel Kanu of Charlton Athletic have impressed in League Two this season while on loan at Colchester United and Walsall.
Mbick has scored seven goals in all competitions for Colchester since joining Danny Cowley’s team in September, and his performances earned him a call-up to England’s U20 squad during the November international break.
Meanwhile, Kanu has scored eight goals in all competitions for Walsall since his temporary move to the Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium in August, propelling the Saddlers to the top of the League Two table as of now.
Colchester and Walsall will undoubtedly be anxious to keep the strikers for the rest of the season as they both seek promotion to League One, but Nathan Jones’ recent comments indicate that this is not certain.
Miles Leaburn, Tanto Olaofe, and Charlie Kelman have only scored one goal each for the Addicks this season, and the latter is currently sidelined with an injury, as is last season’s top scorer Matty Godden, so it would be unsurprising if Jones decided to recall at least one of his in-form youngsters in January.
Nathan Jones’s words may worry Colchester and Walsall.
According to South London Sport: Charlton Athletic edition, Nathan Jones described the present scenario with Mbick and Kanu, and his words may affect Danny Cowley and Mat Sadler.
“They are our players and we will consider all opportunities,” Jones informed the crowd.
“If the necessity came, we would [recall] them; they are our players, and we trust them.
“We did not lend them out since we didn’t want them. We lent them out because we believed it would be better for their careers. But if their career leads them to our first team, that’s fine.
“Dan Kanu has already scored in League One, so we didn’t send him to Walsall to see if he could score in League Two; we know he can do so above that level. We wanted him to have game time and get a loan in the proper spot. Walsall has been good to him.
“That’s Mbick’s first loan. He is a little less well-known, but he has adapted quickly. He’s done very well, and he’s at a club where he gets excellent coaching.
“They’ll both be in a better position to play for us come January. We believe they can both play for us.
“With Godden, Kelman, Leaburn, and Tanto, we felt the game time would be restricted. Now, it’s possible that, one, they’ve done well enough to return and influence us, and two, we’ll need them in our current predicament.
League Two duo try to keep hold of on-loan Charlton Strikers
Colchester and Walsall will surely not want their on-loan strikers to return to The Valley in January, with the Saddlers potentially losing a crucial attacker midway through the campaign for the second season in a row after Nathan Lowe was recalled by Stoke City earlier this year.
The fact that both players represented Charlton in the EFL Cup earlier this season, which means they cannot represent any domestic club during the 2025/26 season, will be encouraging for the League Two duo.
That means the Addicks will only recall them if they are required to play in the Championship, rather than to provide them with a different loan experience at a League One club, and that if they are sent back out at the end of January, their only option will be to return to Colchester or Walsall.
It will be intriguing to see if Mbick and Kanu stay in January, but Nathan Jones’ comments will undoubtedly have troubled Colchester and Walsall fans.
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