Former Charlton Athletic favourite Lyle Taylor will not be returning to the Addicks this summer despite being out of favour at Nottingham Forest, according to the South London Press's Rich Cawley.

Online speculation was rife earlier on Wednesday that the Montserrat international striker would be coming back to The Valley after departing for Forest two years ago.

Charlton are in need of new recruits at the top end of the pitch, with just Jayden Stockley as an experienced option with young Miles Leaburn as his back-up as Chuks Aneke is on the sidelines.

 

 

 

 

But that player will not be Taylor, with Cawley shutting down the speculation by stating it's 'not happening'.

Taylor left the Addicks back in 2020 in acrimonious circumstances, refusing to see out his contract with the club when football returned after the COVID-19 related break, and having scored 11 goals in 22 Championship appearances before the season stopped, the results that followed in Taylor's absence led to the club being relegated.

Because of that, it will be a relief to some that Taylor's next move won't be to the Londoners, even though he will most likely join another club due to his current club's signing of Taiwo Awoniyi, Emmanuel Dennis and potentially Neal Maupay.

The Verdict

At the age of 32 now, Taylor would still probably be one of the top strikers in League One, with a prolific record in previous years in the third tier.

He's not had such a good time of it at Championship level with Forest and Birmingham City, but he could still do a job at that level, so it would be a shock if he heads all the way into League One.

It's unlikely that he's going to want to sit on the sidelines at the City Ground all season, which is what he will be doing as he's out of favour under Steve Cooper.

Charlton fans will be split on the striker after how his time at the club ended, but there's no doubting he would have been an asset.