Sean Clare is a 24 year old self-described "box to box midfielder" who we have signed for an undisclosed fee from Oxford United. He has signed a two year contract.
He began his football career in the CAFC Academy so his signing represents something of a homecoming. He joined the Nike Academy (which specialises in finding clubs for unregistered players) and was taken on by Sheffield Wednesday as an eighteen year old in 2015. They loaned him to Bury (4 games in 2015/16) and Accrington (8 games in 2016/17). His breakthrough came when he signed on loan for Gillingham in 2017/18 where he was a great success. Gills fans lamented his return to Sheffield:
"I am gutted. Everything a club would want in a loan signing."
"Excellent player. Lovely guy"
"You were critical to us staying up"
Having made just five appearances for Wednesday he went north of the boarder in 2018 and played for Hearts in the Scottish Premier League for two seasons - making 54 appearances and scoring 7 goals. He played alongside Conor Washington in the Hearts team that was relegated in 2020 when the league was suspended in March 2020. He returned to League One last season on a three year contract with Oxford but was loaned to Burton in the January window. His arrival coincided with the tremendous run of form that Burton enjoyed under Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink which saw the team rise from bottom position to mid table safety.
He appeared for both clubs against us at The Valley last season. Karl Robinson deployed him as a right back in the Oxford team we beat 2-0 in October but he was back again in the midfield of the Burton team who came from behind to beat us 2-1 in February.
He is pleased to be joining Charlton:
“This is the first club I signed for as a kid, I was here for a few years before leaving. Like I said, it’s a club that’s been close to my heart, I’ve always followed Charlton, I’ve always looked at their results. To come back and have the chance to do what I dreamt of as a kid, to play in the first-team, to be successful with a massive club like Charlton is something I’m really excited to do."