Right sided centre back Reece Burke (28) has become Charlton’s fifth signing of the summer and the third ex Luton Town player to sign this window.
Burke is a product of the West Ham youth academy and made 15 senior appearances or the east London side. He spent three seasons on loan at Bradford City, Wigan Athletic and Bolton Wanderers, the latter being with former Addick Josh Cullen.
Hull City was the next step with the Tigers being rumoured to have paid a fee of £1.5 million. He was able to bank 110 appearances for Hull, 70 of which came in the Championship. He played alongside Addicks skipper Greg Docherty when the pair contributed to Hull’s table topping promotion from League One in 2020/21.
Nathan Jones then signed the defender for his Luton Town side in 2021. Burke’s time at Luton was hampered by injury. He failed to hit 30 league appearances in all three of his seasons in Bedfordshire but, looking at the responses from Hatters fans, there is no doubting his quality even though his injury issues are a concern. Many seem convinced that, if injury free, Burke would still be playing the Premier League.
He is known for being strong in the tackle rather than being an aerial monster like Lloyd Jones. Tactically, his signing throws up an interesting question. He is unlikely to displace Jones in the centre of defence and it seems much more likely that he plays on the right of the back three. This would mean moving Kayne Ramsay back out to wing back. Ramsay is a very good wing back but isn’t as direct or attacking as Thierry Small so some width and creativity would have to come from elsewhere. An alternative view is that Jones doesn’t see Burke as a starting option but rather as one to push Ramsay and to be played more sparingly. Fewer minutes could help with Burke’s injury issues too. It also wouldn’t be surprising to see Nathan Jones employ more attacking and defensive systems based on opponents. This would probably mean signing a more attacking wing back to play against teams lower in attacking quality and the Ramsay and Burke combo playing against teams nearer the top of the division.
On his arrival Burke told the club website “I’m really pleased to be here. I’ve worked with Nathan before, it felt like we had a good connection - I felt he brought the best out of me. I know what sort of team he can build and that environment is something I want to be a part of.”.
Nathan Jones expressed his pleasure in reuniting with the defender saying “ he’s a wonderful defender and a really good character. He comes to us with plenty of Premier League and Championship experience and will really add to the group.”
Welcome to SE7, Reece!