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.
After being relegated from the Championship the previous season, the Addicks hired Russell Slade as manager and made a number of promising additions before the 2016–17 League One season. These players included Wigan Athletic defender Jason Pearce, Northampton Town winger Ricky Holmes, and Northern Ireland international Josh Magennis.
Striker Nicky Ajose, who had scored 24 goals for Swindon Town in the third division during the 2015–16 campaign, was the most intriguing new addition. He was brought in to join Magennis, Lee Novak, Ademola Lookman, and Karlan Grant in an attack.
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
In the first half of the 2016–17 season, Ajose scored six goals for Charlton in League One. However, he would only score two more league goals for the team before leaving in 2019.
After a 3-0 loss to Swindon in November 2016, the Addicks fired Slade. Karl Robinson, who took his place, permitted Ajose to rejoin the Robins on loan for the rest of the season in January 2017, with Tony Watt returning to SE7 after a stint at Heart of Midlothian.
As a result, Swindon was able to keep Ajose in their squad for half of the season despite receiving about £800,000 for his sale. Even though the Robins were relegated, the move was a wise commercial decision because the striker scored five league goals in the second half of the season.
The sale of the former Manchester United teenager was made even more attractive when Swindon paid over £400,000 to recruit goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux from Liverpool less than a week after Ajose’s transfer to Charlton was finalized.
Sadly, Charlton ended the season in a dismal 13th place, and Ajose was unable to lead the team’s promotion campaign following his much awaited arrival.
Nicky Ajose did have a couple of good moments in a Charlton Athletic shirt
Ajose did have one or two successful moments during his three years at Charlton, despite the fact that his career was mostly a failure, since he was sent out on loan three times.
Ajose returned to Charlton in January after spending the first part of the 2017–18 season on loan at Bury in League Two. With a few games left in the season, he gave the team his best performance.
Under interim manager Lee Bowyer, the Addicks were vying for a play-off spot in April 2018. With their promotion aspirations on the line, they sold out the away end at Fratton Park for a crucial match against Portsmouth.
At the end of the first half, Ajose grabbed a flick-on from Magennis and tucked the ball past the charging goalkeeper to give Charlton a crucial 1-0 victory that helped them finish in the top six that season.
He scored his final league goal for the Addicks in a 2-1 victory the following season at the same stadium while on loan at Mansfield Town. This came after the team got promoted back to the Championship in 2019.
Even though Ajose had a few standout moments while wearing a Charlton shirt, Swindon was the obvious winner of the deal because he demanded a high price, left the team on a free transfer, and never really lived up to expectations in front of goal. This is especially true given that he rejoined the Robins only six months after his costly departure.
