Who is Onel Hernández?
That was the question on a lot of lips last night. Most Charlton fans expected that the summer transfer business was done but we should all know by now that Nathan Jones loves a free agent signing in the twilight of their career.
So, who is Onel Hernández? He’s primarily a left winger who comes, fittingly, from Cuba. The 32 year old is no stranger to English football having signed for Norwich in 2018. He went on to make 210 appearances for The Canaries covering their time in the Premier League as well as the Championship. He also had loan spells at Middlesborough and Birmingham City. Across the three clubs he’s scored 15 league goals and notched up 27 assists.
Those numbers aren’t hugely promising over a seven year stay and they back up the general feeling from Norwich fans that his end product is poor. However, the rest of the reviews have been rave. Charlton fans have been told that Hernandez will get you out of your seat, was a fan favourite and great for the dressing room. The Cuban’s infectious personality can be seen in his regular vlogs.
The 32 year old, who previously plied his trade in Germany, is an interesting piece of the Nathan Jones puzzle. The only other left winger on the books is Tyreece Campbell and he plays a hybrid winger and striker role. It is possible that that is where Hernandez will play and provide competition but another possibility is that we see a flip of the system and he plays as a very attacking left wing back. This would require the right wing back becoming more defensive and could see Rob Apter shifted to playing as a hybrid striker and right winger to provide width on the right hand side. Hernández has been training with the club for a number of weeks so should be fit. We might see where Jones wants to play him very soon.
On arrival Hernández said "I’m really happy to be here. I’ve known the coach for a long time and I’ve played against his teams. He’s a very good coach who knows what he wants from his players.”
While Nathan Jones added: "Onel brings real good Championship experience. We’ve had a look at him as he’s been training with us for a few weeks and he’s got wonderful athleticism and real one-v-one quality.”
Welcome to SE7, Onel.