Charlton Athletic must regret Dean Holden's 2023 transfer call | OneFootball

Former Charlton Athletic midfielder Albie Morgan has been impressing at Blackpool.

Charlton Athletic released academy graduate Albie Morgan in the summer of 2023 - and it's a decision that they should be regretting despite their lofty position in the League One table.

The midfielder racked up nearly 150 appearances for the Addicks after making his senior debut in 2018, but he was allowed to leave the club when his contract expired at the end of the 2022/23 season.

Dean Holden, who was the Charlton manager at the time, spoke highly of Morgan once the decision had been made that he was going to move on, via the official club website.

"Albie Morgan is an academy graduate who has played nearly 150 games for the first team and has been here a large part of his life after joining Charlton at the age of nine," Holden said.

"We're really grateful for everything he has done for the football club in that time.

"His commitment to the club has been first class since I arrived."

Morgan spoke about his departure from The Valley after he signed for Charlton's League One rivals Blackpool the following month in an interview with London News Online.

"It's football - a game of opinions - so if that is the way they wanted to go then I'm not going to sit here and moan about it or get upset about it," Morgan said.

"In football there are going to be other options out there, like I've explored, and now I've signed for Blackpool.

"The conversation was brief. Once I found out I knew I couldn't dwell on the situation. I had to find somewhere else to play and give my 100 per cent."

Charlton must regret decision to release Morgan

Almost two years on from when Morgan was released by the club, Charlton must surely regret their decision to let him go.

Holden was sacked by the Addicks just a few months after Morgan was released, and who knows what would have happened if he had kept a player who had been a regular starter under him the previous season?

Morgan reminded Charlton supporters what they were missing when he provided the assist for Karamoko Dembélé to open the scoring against the Addicks at Bloomfield Road during a 1-1 draw in January 2024.

This season, he scored for the Tangerines during their 2-1 victory at The Valley in September, before he provided another assist against his former club as Blackpool salvaged a point from 2-0 down in the reverse fixture at the beginning of February.

The midfielder has scored four goals and provided seven assists in League One for Blackpool so far this term, which is a better return than any of Charlton's current midfielders, so the Addicks must surely regret Dean Holden's decision to release him - even if Nathan Jones is getting the best out of his squad when it comes to results.

Albie Morgan has impressed in League One this season for Blackpool

It seems as though Charlton allowed Morgan to leave the club just before he took his game up a level, as the 25-year-old has stood out in the third tier so far this season.

According to FotMob, Morgan has been the best player in the division so far this season, as no other player has a higher average match rating at this stage of the campaign - of course this is just one metric, but it does show what an impact the 25-year-old has been making in Lancashire.

Not only have Charlton missed out on the impact that Morgan could have made on the pitch now that he has matured as a player, but they also could potentially have sold him for a reasonable fee if they had renewed his contract.