City look likely to lose out in the race for centre back Alex Mitchell, as he closes in on a move to Charlton.
That’s the news coming out of South London this evening, and it will certainly be of interest to Imps fans. Jez George hinted at the end of last season that Mitchell would be a player that interested us, but it stands to reason other clubs also covet him.
Charlton are a big concern at this level, despite having several bad seasons, but under Nathan Jones they’ll be hoping to push up the league. They’ve made no secret of the fact they need a centre back, and Millwall’s Neil Harris hinted that Mitchell could leave. The only spanner in the works may have been Imps interest.
If we have shown interest, and the reports are to be believed, it could be the first of our transfer targets that we’ve missed out on. As of last week, an update from Clive suggested we had not lost any of our top targets. However, the 22-year-old does look likely to be the first.
Mitchell joined on loan last season from Millwall, and cemented himself as one of the club’s top performers. His form kept Adam Jackson out of the side later in the season, and despite signing when we had an abundance of defenders, he made himself a place in the starting line up.
With 34 league starts, and 41 outings in total, he was definitely one of our key players, but that isn’t the only reason this is a blow. Losing a decent player to a divisional rival is one thing, but Alex Mitchell wasn’t just any player. He formed a solid bond with supporters, and was seen in the Shakey after the final game, waving a red flare and singing Lincoln songs.
Sadly, it looks likely that red flare represented the club he was moving to, rather than the one we all hoped he would stick with for a bit longer. Of course, nothing has been decided as yet, but when a report comes out in a local paper like this, it’s usually done because a deal is close.
I’ll be honest, I very rarely get attached to a loan player, and I’m not usually one to jump on the ‘we ought to sign him’ bandwagon, but I do feel a bit sad reading this news. I felt Alex could have come back and been a huge player for us next season, cementing himself as a future Lincoln legend.
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