Charlton Athletic signed Nicky Ajose from Swindon Town in the summer of 2016, but the striker never quite lived up to expectations at The Valley.
The Addicks made a few encouraging signings ahead of the 2016/17 League One campaign, having appointed Russell Slade as manager following their relegation from the Championship the previous season, including Northern Ireland international Josh Magennis, Northampton Town winger Ricky Holmes, and Wigan Athletic defender Jason Pearce.
However, the most exciting new arrival was striker Nicky Ajose, who had scored 24 goals in the third tier for Swindon Town during the 2015/16 season, and was brought in to be part of an attack that included Magennis, Lee Novak, Ademola Lookman, and Karlan Grant.
| Nicky Ajose’s stats for Swindon Town (Transfermarkt) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 76 | 40 | 3 |
Charlton paid a fee in the region of £800,000 to sign Ajose, which makes him one of the top 25 most expensive League One signings to this day, as per Transfermarkt.com.
Nicky Ajose’s move to Charlton Athletic was more beneficial for Swindon Town
Ajose scored six goals in League One for Charlton during the first half of the 2016/17 season, although he would only go on to score a further two league goals for the club prior to his eventual departure in 2019.
Slade was sacked by the Addicks in November 2016 after a 3-0 defeat against Swindon, and his replacement, Karl Robinson, allowed Ajose to re-join the Robins on loan for the remainder of the campaign in January 2017, with Tony Watt returning to SE7 following his temporary spell at Heart of Midlothian.
That meant Swindon, having received around £800,000 for the sale of Ajose, still managed to have him in their squad for half of the season. The striker scored five league goals during the second half of the campaign, and despite the fact they ended up being relegated, the move was a good piece of business for the Robins.
Less than a week after Ajose’s move to Charlton had been confirmed, Swindon spent a fee in the region of £400,000 to sign goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux from Liverpool, making the sale of the former Manchester United youngster look even better.
Unfortunately for Charlton, they finished the season in a disappointing 13th place, with Ajose having failed to spearhead a promotion push for the club after his highly-anticipated arrival.
Nicky Ajose did have a couple of good moments in a Charlton Athletic shirt
Despite the fact that his Charlton career was unsuccessful overall, with him being sent out on loan three times during his three-year stint at the club, Ajose did have one or two good moments.
Having spent the first half of the 2017/18 campaign on loan at Bury in League Two, Ajose returned to Charlton in January and produced his best moment for the club with just a few games remaining in the season.
The Addicks were hunting a play-off place under caretaker manager Lee Bowyer in April 2018, and sold out the away end at Fratton Park for a must-win clash against Portsmouth with their promotion hopes on the line.
Ajose latched onto a flick-on from Magennis and slotted the ball past the onrushing goalkeeper at the end of the first half to secure a vital 1-0 win, which helped Charlton achieve a top-six finish that season.
He scored at the same ground in a 2-1 win the following season, which turned out to be his final league goal for the Addicks before he was released after the club had won promotion back to the Championship in 2019, while he was on loan at Mansfield Town.
While Ajose had a handful of memorable moments in a Charlton shirt, the fact that he commanded a significant fee, left the club on a free transfer, and never really lived up to expectations in front of goal means that Swindon were the clear winners of the deal, especially considering that he returned to the Robins just six months after his expensive departure.
