'He's a player that we've monitored for a long time' - Charlton Athletic secure try-before-you-buy deal for Timothy Ouma
Midfielder played European football in last two seasons
Charlton Athletic have made Slavia Prague midfielder Timothy Ouma their seventh signing of the summer transfer window.
Ouma has played European football in the previous two seasons at IF Elfsborg and Lech Poznan.
Timothy Ouma/Picture: Focus/CAFC
Ouma spent last season on loan at Lech Poznan as they won the Ekstraklasa, the highest division in Poland, for the 10th time.
“We’re delighted to get Timothy over the line,” Charlton manager Nathan Jones told the club’s official website. “He’s a player that we’ve monitored for a long, long time and he comes with real good pedigree.
“He’s an athletic, technical midfield player who has had some good experience and he’ll add real quality to our midfield.”
Charlton appear to have struck a similar arrangement as the one Partizan Belgrade had lined up for Ouma, but the Serbian side ended up announcing they had signed Iddrisu Baba from Almeria.
Before that Radosav Petrovic, appointed Partizan’s sporting director last month, talked about their admiration for Ouma. He said: “We received excellent recommendations.
“There are many important details about him, and we believe Ouma would mean a lot to us in midfield.
“He is a physically dominant player, very good positionally, and someone who can bring balance to our midfield. We already have players in those positions, but competition is always welcome. We believe this would be a very good signing.”
Kenyan news outlet Mozzart Sport claimed that the move broke down after Slavia Prague changed the financial terms of the deal. They added: “The Serbian club waited for some time, hoping that Slavia would come back to the original deal, but since that didn’t happen, they turned to other targets.”
Charlton announced Ouma as their seventh addition of the transfer window. He is the first loan signing of the close season with the other six incomings all permanents.
“We’re delighted to bring Timothy to the club,” Addicks managing director Jim Rodwell told the club’s website. “He’s a player we’ve admired for some time and someone who fits the profile we identified as we continue to move the squad forward.
“He brings athleticism, quality on the ball and a real presence in midfield, and we’re looking forward to seeing him in a Charlton shirt.
“We’ve also secured an option to make the transfer permanent, subject to certain conditions, which puts us in a strong position should Timothy contribute in the way we expect him to.”
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