George Jones reports
Charlton Athletic are delighted to confirm the loan signing of Nathan Byrne from Wigan Athletic.
The 24-year-old, who has made 186 appearances in senior football, has penned a deal until the end of the season and becomes Karl Robinson’s fourth addition of the January transfer window.
Robinson said: “I’m very happy to be able to add Nathan to our squad. When he was at Swindon, he was one of the best players in this league. He plays off the right and can also play as a 10. He can be phenomenal going forward, is very quick and will add energy to the squad.
“He’s one of the quickest wingers in the league. He gets to the byline, delivers crosses and we’ve got some really good strikers to capitalise on that.
“He’s an assister. We’ve brought in a top, top player at this level. I’m looking forward to working with him and hope we can get the rewards for his talent. Hopefully he finds a home here where he enjoys playing football.
“It’s a move that will support what we are trying to do – we haven’t got anyone of Nathan’s mould in our squad or U23s at the minute, which is why, when he became available, I wanted to bring him here.”
Byrne said: “I’m delighted to get it done early on in the January transfer window and am looking forward to having, hopefully, a good four months of a lot of playing time.
“I want to be playing games, I wasn’t getting that at Wigan, and when Karl got in contact I was really excited about the possibility of coming here.
“I already know what type of Manager he is and how he likes to get his teams playing, having played against them seven or eight times before. I know what he is about and I’m looking forward to working under him and his staff.”
Beginning his career at Tottenham Hotspur, Byrne earned his first taste of first-team football during a loan stint at Brentford in 2011.
He aided his development further with temporary switches to AFC Bournemouth, Crawley Town and Swindon Town, before making a permanent move to Wiltshire.
While at Swindon, Byrne played more than 100 matches, scoring 11 goals, and in 2014/15 was named in the League One Team of the Year, as the Robins reached the play-off final.
He netted a hat-trick on the opening day of last term which earned him a move to Wolverhampton Wanderers and, following a season at Molineux, joined newly-promoted Wigan Athletic in the summer.
Supporters will be able to hear from Byrne for the first time on www.cafc.co.uk later today.
DONE DEAL | Charlton sign Nathan Byrne on loan from Wigan Athletic
January 9th, 2017