Charlton Athletic are poised to win the race to sign Coventry City forward Matty Godden this summer, beating off Championship competition in order to do so.

The Valley has been the centre of a lot of transfer activity over the last week or so. Alfie May’s seemingly inevitable departure has taken up most of the headlines as Birmingham City look set to snap up the 2023/24 League One top scorer.

Huddersfield Town were the ones who looked initially like they were going to be able to sign the former Cheltenham Town man, but the financial power that City have brought to the third tier looks like it will be the decisive factor.

Losing a player of his quality was always going to be a real blow for Charlton, but they are moving swiftly to try and find a replacement for May.

In doing so, they have turned to a man that they have had their eye on for quite a while.

Charlton set to win race for Matty Godden

The Addicks are going to beat out the likes of Oxford United to the signing of the Sky Blues’ man, according to journalist Alan Nixon, via his Patreon. He added that Godden is ready to take the step down to League One, where he has a proven track record.

Nathan Jones’ interest in the 32-year-old stems back to at least the start of May. London News Online reported that the Welshman’s side were intrigued by the prospect of obtaining Godden, but the possibility of him leaving the CBS Arena wasn’t a definite as he still has another year left on his current deal with Coventry.

Even though there was no departure on the cards, the Addicks put themselves at the front of the queue just in case the prospect of staying with the Championship side looked less appealing, due to the reduction of minutes that he was likely to see next season.

Nixon reported on Sunday that Godden would go to the highest bidder.

Charlton will add brilliant League One experience if Godden signs

The intent of Jones and the club is being made clear this summer. After a disappointing campaign last time out, the Addicks do not want to find themselves down in the lower half of the league once again.

With the talent that was in that team in the previous campaign, including May, Conor Coventry, Connor Wickham and others, that team should have been nowhere near 16th in the league.

This move for Godden certainly is indicative of a team that’s aiming to be pushing up towards the top of the table, although they will face stiff competition this season.

What can Charlton expect from their prospective new forward? Well, the last couple of seasons haven’t been filled with regular returns in front of goal for him.

Last season, especially, saw a reduction in his minutes as new, younger forwards came into Mark Robins’ team. He did still manage six league goals though.

He hasn’t played in League One since the 2019/20 campaign, when he won promotion to the Championship with Coventry. Godden found the back of the net 14 times in that campaign, and has amassed 32 league goals in all since that promotion.

In terms of replacements for May, Charlton would struggle to find one more fitted and likely to work than the City forward.