Charlton Athletic thought they'd hit the jackpot with £2.4m deal but he walked for nothing | OneFootball

Charlton Athletic signed a striker from FC Copenhagen in the summer of 2014.

Charlton Athletic thought they had hit the jackpot after signing striker Igor Vetokele in the summer of 2014.

The Angola international joined the Addicks from Danish side FC Copenhagen for a reported fee of £2.4 million ahead of the 2014/15 campaign, as Bob Peeters strengthened his squad with several new additions, including Johann Berg Gudmundsson from AZ Alkmaar.

Vetokele had played against Real Madrid and Galatasaray in the Champions League during the season prior to his arrival at The Valley, so there was understandably a sense of optimism that he could become a key player for Charlton.

It didn't take long for him to show what he was capable of in English football, as he scored five goals in as many games during the first month of the season, resulting in him being named as the Championship Player of the Month for August 2014.

Addicks supporters would have been forgiven for thinking that they had hit the jackpot following Vetokele's outstanding start in SE7, but unfortunately, he never quite lived up to the high expectations that he set for himself during his first few games for the club.

Injuries hindered Vetokele at Charlton

Vetokele made 41 Championship appearances during his debut season at The Valley, scoring 11 goals and providing nine assists, so he would have hoped that he could take his game to the next level during the 2015/16 season.

However, during the summer of 2015, he spoke about how injuries had affected his pre-season in an interview with the club, as per Sky Sports.

"It's a great feeling to be back on the pitch finally," said Vetokele.

"I've had a lot of problems with my injuries over the summer and I've had to work very hard to come back.

"I came back from my achilles injury but then I had a small inflammation around my groin.

"We need to build it up now and hopefully not get another injury. I'm going to speak about the minutes I can play with the medical team."

Unfortunately, Vetokele was limited to making just 16 appearances in the second tier over the course of the 2015/16 campaign as Charlton suffered relegation to League One.

He spent the next two seasons out on loan in Belgium, and it seemed as though his Charlton career may well have come to an end.

Vetokele had unfinished business at Charlton

After Vetokele returned from his loan spell at Sint-Truiden in 2018, Charlton boss Lee Bowyer decided to keep hold of the striker for the 2018/19 League One season.

He scored five goals in all competitions, despite missing a large part of the season through injury, which helped the Addicks reach the play-offs in the third tier.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, a thigh injury meant that he played no part in the play-offs, but that did not prevent Charlton from winning promotion back to the Championship with a 2-1 victory over Sunderland at Wembley.

Vetokele was released by the Addicks in the summer of 2019, and while he had managed to end his Charlton career on a high, the supporters would have thought he was going to make a much bigger impact after his first month at the club.

Who knows what might have been if Vetokele had not suffered the achilles and groin injuries that seemed to take away the explosiveness he had at the beginning of his Charlton career.