"Unless there’s a ludicrous fee" - Charlton Athletic urged to make Thierry Small call as Preston lurk | OneFootball

We asked our Charlton Athletic fan pundit about Thierry Small's links with Preston North End

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Charlton Athletic have been told not to sell Thierry Small to Preston North End, despite the 20-year-old being out of contract at The Valley at the end of the season.

Small joined the Addicks in January transfer last year after leaving Southampton, and he's proved to be an excellent addition to Nathan Jones' side thanks to his pace and versatility.

Championship side Preston North End are said to be keen to secure his signature, as per reports from Alan Nixon, but Charlton have been told to keep the 20-year-old until the end of the season as they mount a play-off push.

If Preston wait until the end of the season to sign Small when he's out of contract, they'll still have to pay a fee due to Small’s age, with a tribunal set to determine the valuation.

Charlton Athletic urged not to cash in on Thierry Small

We asked our Charlton Athletic fan pundit, Ben Fleming, what he made of the interest from Preston, and whether his club should cash in should they receive a bid for Small before the transfer window closes.

Speaking to Football League World, Ben said: "I saw a few rumours with Preston and Small. Rich Cawley, the local journalist, has said that there hasn’t been any contact yet between the two, so I’m not sure how much truth there is, but no contract doesn’t mean they’re not interested in him.

“Obviously, his contract is up in the summer, but I don’t think we should be looking to sell him in January for any fee.

“He was in the side at the start of the season playing left wingback, and he’s had a really good run in the team recently playing right wingback when Ramsey and Watson have been out, and I think he might slot back to the left now Kayne Ramsey is back to fitness.

“He’s been a really crucial player for us, he’s clearly very athletic at getting up and down the pitch, and we signed him on a free and, I think, given we’re just about in the race for the play-offs, I don’t think we can afford to be selling one of our better players, he’s certainly a value squad player.

"He came on a free, so if we don’t go up, and he leaves on a free in the summer it would be disappointing, but I don’t think you want to lose a player of his quality at the middle of the season, especially when we’re not able to command much of a fee as clubs can wait until the summer.

“I’d like to see us hold on to him and show some intent, try and get him to sign a new contract in the next six months, but I don’t there’s necessarily a fee we should be looking at letting him go for unless there’s a ludicrous fee that you can’t turn down, but I can’t see Preston putting that sort of money on the table.

“He’s one that we should be looking to keep hold of.”

Keeping Thierry Small until the end of the season makes sense for Charlton

Charlton will receive a sum of money for Small even if he does depart at the end of the season when his contract expires thanks to his age, so selling him this month wouldn't make sense unless it was a huge offer.

The Addicks would be better off keeping him as he could be the difference between winning promotion or not, and if they do win promotion to the Championship, albeit unlikely, he may well be more inclined to put pen-to-paper on a new deal at The Valley.

Charlton could well make slightly more money if they did sell him this month, but given the fact they'll receive a bit of money in the summer regardless, it would be strange to cash in between now and the end of the window.