Alex Mitchell is a 22 year old, 6'3" tall central defender who Charlton have signed from Millwall on a 3 year contract for an undisclosed fee.
He is no relation to former club mate, Billy Mitchell who has established himself as a defensive midfielder at Millwall with over one hundred Championship appearances. Discerning readers will realise that this means that Alex is no relation to Billy's younger brother Zach who will be returning to Charlton for next season after a frustrating loan spell at Colchester.
Alex signed for Millwall in 2018 but didn't manage to break through into their Championship team in his six years with the club. Instead he enjoyed loan spells with progressively higher placed clubs - Bromley, Leyton Orient, Kilmarnock (where he scored his first senior goal - a last minute equaliser against Celtic) and Lincoln City. He played 36 League One games at Lincoln last season and helped his team to the second best defensive record as they just failed to make the play-offs.
Neil Harris commented:
"Alex is absolutely adamant that he has been pretty much out on loan for 18 months and also been a regular in a team for 18 months – ultimately he just wants to play first-team football every Saturday afternoon. With ourselves, at Championship level, I was more than happy for Alex to stay with us and be part of the group – fight for the place – but I understand the player’s mindset. He has played regularly and wants to play. You have to praise that sometimes. We feel it is a really good deal with Charlton, where we’re happy with the transfer fee we’ve received.”
Nathan Jones is equally happy:
"He has so much scope to grow. He’s 22 and played a lot of games and is nowhere near his ceiling. He did fantastically well at Lincoln last season and was a big part of their strong push in the second half of the season. He’s a player I'm very excited to work with."
Charlton fans with an eye for history will of course be aware that there was a Mitchell in the club's very first league match in August 1921. John Ernest Mitchell was a founder member of the club in 1905 and sixteen years later was playing at right back at the age of thirty four in that famous 1-0 win over Exeter at The Valley. He later became "player groundsman" and in October 1925 was awarded a pay rise from three pounds five shillings a week to three pounds seven and sixpence so that "in the event of accidents to other players, his services could be utilised."
Nathan Jones has been quoted as saying that he expects nine signings in this window so we can expect more activity both in and out over the next few weeks.