Mason Burstow signed for Chelsea from Charlton Athletic on transfer Deadline Day.

The 18-year-old will remain at The Valley on loan until the end of the season to continue to add depth to Johnnie Jackson's attacking options.

Burstow has scored six goals in seven starts in all competitions for the Addicks, and swapped SE7 for the European champions after just two league starts in senior professional football.

Rick Everitt, the editor of Charlton fanzine Voice of the Valley, revealed the details behind the transfer on Twitter.

He wrote: "Voice of The Valley has now been told that #cafc will receive £1.6m from Chelsea for Mason Burstow plus standard contingent add-ons and sell-on."

Considering the clear potential Burstow has shown as an 18-year-old, and the lucrative transfer fees that tend to crop up with English youngsters, £1.6 million appears like a very small amount of money in looking at Burstow's potential career trajectory.

The time to judge whether Charlton have received a good deal or not will not come to pass until Burstow's career progresses, however supporters will be disappointed to lose a player who could have contributed to a potential third tier promotion push next season.

It will be interesting to see how Jackson manages Burstow's game time with the club now having six players in on loan deals.

The Verdict

 

 

This was not sensible asset management from the Charlton club hierarchy.

It looks worse because the fee does not include any potential add-ons, however, with his contract running until the end of next season and no chance of losing him for free due to his youth, if Burstow was to sustain his recent goalscoring form for the remainder of the campaign, the club would have been able to demand far more than £1.6 million for his services.

Thomas Sandgaard had an opportunity to set a precedent with the handling of this situation, with Burstow being the first academy graduate to be sold after coming through the ranks during his ownership (Alfie Doughty and Dillon Phillips broke into the side before Sandgaard's arrival), and the precedent that he has set, is one that suggests that the club's youth products will be sold for a small transfer fee when they break into the first team.