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Former Pompey player Gassan Ahadme is struggling to justify his £1m League One price tag.
The forward is yet to feature in the league for the third-tier promotion hopefuls in 2025 as he finds game time at the Valley hard to come by, But according to boss Nathan Jones - who splashed the cash on the former Ipswich man last summer - the 24-year-old remains a key part of his Addicks’ squad.
The Moroccan’s latest omission came on Tuesday when he didn’t appear in the 20-man match-day squad to face Crawley. The head coach revealed Ahadme missed the 1-0 triumph over the relegation-stugglers due to illness.
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However, it is the 13th consecutive league game the striker has sat out, either through injury or selection issues.
After a productive 2023-24 campaign on loan at Cambridge from Ipswich, where the ex-Norwich academy talent netted 11 goals in 29 appearances for the U’s, Ahadme completed a reported seven-figure permanent move to Charlton last July.
But the Spanish-born frontman has yet to rekindle the form seen at the Abbey Stadium - having scored just one goal in 21 Addicks appearances in all competitions this term. His one and only appearance this calendar year came during a 56-minute run-out in the FA Cup against Preston North End in January.
Ex-Southampton boss Jones, who has guided Charlton to fourth in League One, has made it clear Ahadme still has a future in south London - but admits the competition is strong in his attacking ranks.
Speaking to the South London Press, he said: ‘We have got really good competition at the minute. Gassan has been unfortunate with injuries this year, that is the big thing that has curtailed him.
’The reason he didn’t feature on Tuesday is because he has been ill. The type of illness he had it took a lot from his body, so to put him back on the bench on Tuesday was probably a day or two too early. So that is the reason he wasn’t involved.
‘There is a lot of stuff that revolves around it. The players we have now we really, really want. We have gone through a window where we could’ve moved people on and we had a lot of interest in our players. The players we kept, we believe we can now take forward and achieve something this season.
‘Gassan is a big, big part of that. He is a totally different striker to what we have got. At times, we pick benches for what we need. But, on Tuesday, the big thing why Gassan was not involved is he has been ill. He hadn’t been able to get the fluids in and had only trained for one day. If I’d needed him to come on after 20 minutes, then I would have put him at risk of injury.
‘Gassan is back involved for the weekend, he has three or four more training sessions and a lot more fuel on board. He is in a better place.’
Charlton boss Nathan JonesCharlton boss Nathan Jones
Charlton boss Nathan Jones | Getty Images
Gassan Ahadme’s problems at Pompey
After a 26-minute hat-trick against The Hawks during pre-season while on trial with Pompey from Norwich in 2021, Ahadme did enough to earn a season-long loan with Danny Cowley’s side.
However, the then 20-year-old failed to hit the heights at Fratton Park and, after just five appearances in League One, his stay at PO4 was prematurely ended in January 2022. The Moroccan netted just one goal in 10 outings in all competitions for the Blues.
Just six months after his loan stint at PO4, Ahadme made the move to Ipswich for £300,000 after an impressive stint during the second half of the 2021-22 campaign, where he scored eight goals in 22 appearances on loan with Burton.
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