Wycombe Wanderers manager Matt Bloomfield has admitted he had tried to sign Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Chem Campbell during the summer, before the latter’s move to Charlton Athletic.
This comes after the 21-year-old Welsh youth international re-joined the Chairboys this month on loan from the Premier League outfit – 12 months after his initial spell at Adams Park.
Bloomfield revealed that he had hoped Campbell’s services would have been secured ahead of the season, but the youngster's transfer to the South of London soon materialised.
However, he would only feature 16 times for the Addicks in which he scored on three occasions.
Now back in Buckinghamshire, Bloomfield believes the last year would have turned Campbell into a more ‘rounded player’, with two separate loan moves under his belt.
For Wolves, he has played eight competitive matches, with six of these appearances coming in the Premier League.
Speaking ahead of the trip to Port Vale on Saturday, Bloomfield said: “We were looking at recruiting him before the start of the season as we spoke about it then.
“Sadly, it didn’t materialise in the summer because in football, there is a magnitude of reasons why things don’t happen the way they hoped, but we’ve been watching him very closely at Charlton.
“I think he’s played well there even though his position was more of a central role.
“We like playing him wide either side or in that number 10 role, so it was important to bring him.
“We need players coming in to help Garath McCleary and Kieran Sadlier as we have many games coming up, some being long trips away too.
“It’s probably unrealistic for those guys to play every minute of every game, so we needed to bring in a couple of players who can do the jobs we want in the wide roles.
“We’ve now got Gideon Kodua and Chem and I believe they will be top players in the future.
“To play for a club like Charlton will give him more experience and I believe he’ll have more maturity.
“He does have a huge desire to do well here as he loved his first spell with us, and was keen to return.
“He’s got quality and enthusiasm and with more experience, we feel we have got a more rounded player than what we had before.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here