Charlton Athletic have agreed a deal for Millwall defender Alex Mitchell, who spent last season on loan at Lincoln City. according to Football Insider.
The South London club have had a bid accepted by the Lions, with Mitchell closing in on a return to League One.
The 22-year-old centre-back spent last season on loan in the East Midlands where he impressed, playing 41 times in all competitions and scoring once at the LNER Stadium as the Imps finished seventh in League One, narrowly missing out on the play-offs. He started all of the club’s last 15 matches as they went on a strong run under Michael Skubala, winning 10 of those games and finishing two points behind Oxford United in the last play-off spot.
Mitchell has amassed 111 career appearances thus far, scoring twice, although he has struggled to break into the side at The Den, playing only once for the club he joined aged 16. The highly-rated centre back has spent much of the last few seasons out on loan, with temporary spells at Bromley, St Johnstone and Leyton Orient preceding his time at Lincoln.
The defender would be the fourth signing of the summer at The Valley after adding goalkeeper Will Mannion, defender Josh Edwards and midfielder Luke Berry to their ranks from Cambridge United, Dunfermline and Luton Town respectively.
Charlton will be hoping for an improvement on the previous campaign when they finished 16th in the third tier, although they did pick up form after the appointment of former Southampton and Luton manager Nathan Jones in February.
The Addicks are among the favourites in the division for the coming season as Jones enters his first transfer window at the club, and the signing of Mitchell would only strengthen them as the new campaign approaches.
Writers View
Having spent much of his short career on loan, this season was always going to be key for Mitchell. He’s clearly not fancied to appear much at Millwall, so a move away makes sense, and dropping down a division is wise given how much he thrived at Lincoln.
For Charlton, this is a great deal as they look to strengthen ahead of the campaign with Nathan Jones not afraid to make moves in the transfer market. Having Mitchell in their backline is a sure-fire way to ensure they’re back at the top end of the table come the end of the season.