'Someone was always eventually going to sit up and take notice after last two League One seasons'

Harvey Knibbs thrived in number 10 role at Reading - and is another long-term target landed by Charlton Athletic

It was on, it was off and then it was on again.

Welcome, Harvey Knibbs, to Charlton Athletic Football Club.

It hasn’t quite been something you can put in the category of ‘saga’, but it certainly led to plenty of speculation about why the deal for the Reading attacker had suddenly collapsed earlier this week.

Maybe the reason why will become clearer in the coming days.

But the main thing is that the Addicks have completed a deal for the 26-year-old and he becomes their ninth addition of the summer transfer window on a deal until the end of June 2029.

Picture: Alamy

A bit like Charlie Kelman, Knibbs was a name that was mentioned to South London Sport: Charlton Athletic Edition a long time before it reached the public domain.

And Nathan Jones’ comments to the club’s website back that up. The Welshman said: “I’m delighted we’ve been able to get the signing of Harvey over the line.

“We wanted to add goals to us over the summer and Harvey is a key player we earmarked a long time ago. He’s a goalscoring midfielder who is a consistent performer. He has good pedigree, he’s athletic, he scores goals and he’s young enough that he will continue to improve.”

Below we get more insight into Knibbs from journalist James Earnshaw, who saw him sparkle for Reading.