It was another proud day for the club's esteemed academy on Saturday as 17-year-old Daniel Kanu enjoyed his senior Addicks bow at Wigan Athletic.
The prolific forward, who replaced Mason Burstow on 82 minutes, recently penned his first professional contract with the club having already scored 31 goals this term across all competitions.
Academy Manager Steve Avory said: “We’re really proud of him. He knows he’s got here through his success this season and being recognised through the goals he scored but he’s such a dedicated hard-working individual.
“He listens well, he takes on all the information, he tries to put it into practice, he's always got plenty of questions. He’s a learner and I think you’ve got to be a learner if you’re going to succeed in this game.”
And Avory stressed the importance of not just appearing in games, but also accumulating training minutes with Johnnie Jackson's first-team.
“I think the training minutes are crucial. I know he’s excited now even just coming in here again today, but also the prospect of him continuing with the first-team.
“He will just want to take on more and more information that he can as part of this experience. The training minutes as well as the match minutes are crucial for a lad of his age.
"Hamza Serrar has worked very hard with him in terms of his movement, his hold-up play, back to goal, bringing others into the game. But then he’s got that devastating pace, timing and movement which he really has improved on. Once he gets away from players bearing down on goal, he has been very clinical.
“In his own time, as well as extra time with staff, he’s worked very hard on his finishing. When you see somebody working as hard as he is doing within the sessions but also putting in the extra work, you’re so pleased with him when they get the rewards like this.”
Charlton fans can support the academy by signing up to the Valley Gold scheme. Valley Gold enables fans to support the club’s academy in unearthing the talents of tomorrow, as well as giving them the chance to win cash prizes.
Click here for more information on how you can become a Valley Gold member.
Article by Yannick Stay