Charlton Athletic have announced the signing of versatile defender James Abankwah on loan from Italian top-flight side Udinese, completing the deal on transfer deadline day.
The talented 19-year-old Irish-born Ghanaian youngster joins the Addicks for the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign.
Abankwah has two Serie A appearances to his name - making his full league debut for Udinese against Juventus at the end of last season.
After sealing his switch to The Valley, Abankwah said:
"It feels great to be a Charlton player. I’m delighted to be here and I’m ready to go. I’m hoping to gain a lot of experience here and help the team win as many games as possible.
"I bring that winning mentality, and I have also got a lot of speed and strength, and I am a very powerful player. I like to bring that to the team to help as much as I can."
Technical Director Andy Scott added:
"James is a highly-regarded young player who was the subject of a large transfer fee from St. Patrick’s in Ireland to Udinese. He has already made his debut in Serie A, which shows how much they think of him."
Born in Waterford in Ireland, Abankwah signed his first professional contract at Irish Premier League outfit St Patrick's Athletic, having impressed for the club's academy teams.
After shining in his 13 appearances for St Patrick's, he was signed by Udinese on a four-and-a-half year contract in January last year.
The centre-back made his debut for the Italian club in April 2023 in an away fixture at Bologna.
He earned his first Serie A start afterwards two months later in a narrow 1-0 loss at the Allianz Stadium against giants Juventus.
Abankwah has represented the Republic of Ireland at U16, U18, U19, and U21 levels.