Nathan Jones has spoken to the press following the announcement of Lucas Ness’ departure from Charlton Athletic.
The centre-back has moved to League Two’s Notts County, signing a three-year-deal at Meadow Lane for an undisclosed fee. The Magpies play tonight against Grimsby Town.
He emerged through The Addicks’ academy, moving on loan to non-league clubs Hampton & Richmond and Torquay United. Now at 22, Ness has now left The Valley with minutes becoming more limited under the former Luton Town boss.
Speaking to the media ahead of Charlton’s home match against Bolton Wanderers, Jones mentioned he was eager to create a leaner squad before the window shuts. He added (Quotes via South London Press): “What we don’t want at the end of the window is people being here, not featuring at all and it being detrimental to them.
“It’s a bit of a balancing act but I’m sure we will have a relatively busy week or 10 days – whatever it is.
“I know we’re going to come out of this window stronger because we have anyway. All we are doing now is adding more strength.”
Multiple big names have departed the club this window, with Birmingham City poaching striker Alfie May, George Dobson heading to Wrexham and goalkeeper Harry Isted moving to Burton Albion. Jones has looked to his former club for reinforcements and have signed Luke Berry from Luton on a free transfer.
On the departure of Ness to Notts County, the 51-year-old said: “We thank Lucas – Lucas has been an absolutely great lad.
“His opportunities were limited here and he had a bit of an injury that he was carrying, so he wasn’t showing his full potential.
“We had a decision to make. Do we keep him around and see if he can fulfil what we need? Or do we allow him to move on where he is guaranteed games?
“That was the decision and we left it up to the boy. One, we had a fee. Two, we’re covered in terms of things. The boy just wanted to go and get games elsewhere and so we’ve allowed him to do that. We wish him all the best.
“He is a really good pro.”
Writer’s View
Lucas Ness was never really in the plans to fully break through at Charlton Athletic. Whilst he had some promising performances last season, such as against Blackpool and Derby County, the defender only made 14 appearances across 776 minutes in the league. A move to Notts County will give him a first-team place to hold and will benefit his career going forward.
Jones was happy to let him go and understandably so in his quest to shrink the squad at The Valley. Nathan Asiimwe is another name mooted to leave before the window shuts, with Pete O’Rourke linking the defender to Scotland on loan. Whilst it will help him work with a more tighter group, it does leave some stress should more players get injured. Josh Edwards was stretchered off against Leyton Orient, leaving just Thierry Small and Tayo Edun as the choices on the left-hand side. A knock to one of those two could be a real issue before Edwards returns in the following weeks.
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