Charlton’s sixth summer signing brings with him plenty of Championship experience and a point to prove.

Joe Rankin-Costello started out at the Manchester United academy before moving to Blackburn Rovers in 2014. He made a total of 132 appearances for the Lancashire side including 115 in the Championship. A key talking point during his time with Rovers was where his best position actually was. The majority of his football has been played at RWB but often included inverting into central midfield, where he has also played. The general consensus seems to be that midfield is his better position, but recent managers have tried to play him as a more orthodox full back which hasn’t suited his game.

A quick look at his heat map (below, from Sofascore) shows that midfield certainly seems to be where the 25 year old likes to play and it seems that he is competition for Addicks Skipper Greg Docherty in the middle of the park.

Some Addicks have expressed concern over injury issues but, although Rankin-Costello only made 29 league appearances last season, he was in the squad for 44 out of 46 matches and was just unlucky to find himself down the pecking order.

Rankin-Costello told the club website  that “the manager was really positive about the project and it made me want to come here straight away. I wanted a new challenge and I’m really excited to embrace it.”.

With Nathan Jones adding “He's a player I've watched for a number of years. He's a really versatile and technically excellent midfield player, with good energy and lots of Championship experience. He gives us real quality in the midfield areas, plus he can cover the wider areas as well”.

Welcome to SE7, Joe.