Charlton Athletic’s Terry Taylor is a man in demand, with three other League One clubs all linked with a move for the midfielder in the January transfer window after the Addicks made it known that they are prepared to loan him out.
Bolton Wanderers had previously shown an interest in the 23-year-old, but Footy Insider’s Transfer Correspondent Pete O’Rourke is now reporting that Stevenage and Shrewsbury Town have joined the race for his temporary signature.
Taylor has made 14 appearances so far this season but recently lost his place due to illness and has been unable to win back his place, with Nathan Jones’ side well stocked in the middle of the park.
Why are clubs chasing Taylor?
Taylor has played 934 minutes of football so far this season and has already got a decent level of experience under his belt since making her senior debut for Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2019 in a Carabao Cup tie against Aston Villa.
He had a loan spell at Grimsby in 2020-21 where he featured 13 times before moving permanently to Burton Albion later that season where he played a further 16 games. He stayed at the Pirelli Stadium for a further two years before joining Charlton.
Uniquely, Taylor has played international football at youth level for two different countries, representing Scotland, the nation of his birth, at under-17 and under-18 level while he stepped up to under-21 level with Wales– where his parents were born.
How has he done this season?
Taylor was not in the squad for the first 10 league games of Charlton’s season, but did feature in their four matches in the EFL Trophy against Cambridge, Chelsea U21, Bromley and Leyton Orient as well as the FA Cup wins over Southend and Walsall.
His first league appearance of the season came in October’s draw against Stockport, playing in four matches in a row before missing the defeat to Huddersfield. He then featured in a further four matches, his last League One appearance coming against Mansfield on 14 December.
In his 14 games this season he has two assists, against Chelsea U21 in the EFL Trophy and against Southend United in the First Round of the FA Cup. 11 of those appearances have been starts, playing the full 90 minutes four times.
How have the interested clubs been faring?
Of the three sides chasing a loan move for Taylor, Bolton are the highest placed in the League One table in tenth, four points off the play-off places with a game in hand on a number of sides above them and face Cambridge United on Saturday.
Stevenage are safely in mid table at 14th, 11 points clear of the relegation zone but also ten points adrift of the play-off places. They have only won one of the last five games and host 17th placed Wigan on Saturday, with both teams looking to climb the table.
Shrewsbury are in the relegation zone, eight points adrift of safety and have not really had much of an upturn in results since Gareth Ainsworth’s arrival in November, with them only winning two of his ten league games. Things don’t get any easier for them as they host promotion chasing Wrexham tonight.
Where will Taylor go?
It seems likely that Taylor will move on this month given the lack of game time he is currently getting at Charlton and at his age he is likely to want regular football to try and get into the senior Wales squad ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Should he go to one of the three clubs that have been linked, it will likely come down to which of them is most likely to give him that regular game time. Clubs have until 3 February to get a deal over the line.