Josh Charnley targeted by Championship heavyweights in huge transfer move

Ambitious Championship side Oldham are lining up an audacious move to sign Leigh Leopards winger Josh Charnley, Love Rugby League has learned.

Charnley is off-contract at the Leopards at the end of this season and all the signs point towards an exit from the Leigh Sports Village.

Leigh coach Adrian Lam admitted last month that Charnley’s future may well lie away from the Super League side at the end of this season as they begin to prioritise their younger outside backs.

And that has alerted clubs to the potential availability of one of Super League’s finest-ever wingers. Charnley is the second-highest try-scorer in Super League history, currently sitting on 249 and just 11 behind Leeds’ Ryan Hall.

But he may be set to drop down to the Championship next year, as Oldham weigh up the prospect of a sensational move to sign the 33-year-old.

Oldham are lining up for another ambitious recruitment drive at the end of this season as they seek to push towards the upper echelons of the Championship.

They sit third in the Championship, just two points off the leading pair of Toulouse and Bradford having only been promoted last season.

And Charnley could be the next big name on his way to Boundary Park in 2026 if they can pull off a deal to sign the former Wigan and Warrington man.

Lam admitted last month: “Where Josh goes to after this year, we’ll make that decision as a club in the near future.

“The issue is that we’ve got so many good outside-backs coming through with the likes of Bailey Hodgson, Keanan Brand’s now in the picture, we’ve got to fit Darnell McIntosh in there.

“Then there’s young players such as AJ Towse, who I think is a Super League player and is the future.”

Charnley came off the bench for just a handful of minutes in Leigh’s last home game against Hull FC before dropping out of the 17 altogether when they defeated Huddersfield a fortnight ago. He has been named in Leigh’s 21 to face Wakefield on Sunday.

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