CHRIS Powell has downplayed suggestions Diego Poyet could be about to hook up with dad Gus at Sunderland.

Poyet senior was last week confirmed as the Black Cats’ new manager, prompting one national newspaper to claim a January switch to the north-east from The Valley for his highly-rated son could be on the cards.

However, Charlton boss Powell believes people might just be putting tow and two together and making five, adding the 18-year-old’s development is best continued in south-east London.

The Addicks manager explained: “Everyone is looking at Diego and looking at Gus going to Sunderland and thinking he will take his son.

“He is someone who we have an eye on to not only have a career but to be involved in this first team squad.

“But of course Jordan Cousins has made the step up and I have a number of players in that position, but he is one who we feel will do very well at this club.

“I think people are just trying to drum up stories with Gus going there and the job that he has and whether he will take his son there.

News Shopper: Gus Poyet

“Gus has been very happy with Diego’s development with us and that’s the way I think it will be.”

Diego Poyet played in Wednesday’s 1-0 Kent Cup defeat at Dartford, but Powell was keen to point out the youngster remains some way off the Charlton first team yet.

“There are a number of players in front of him and I can’t just say ‘yeah, he is going to be in’ because I’ve got some experienced players there and the emergence of Jordan Cousins.

“He is a little bit older than Diego but I don’t want us to keep rushing them.

“In some ways I’ve been forced to put some of the players in but also in other ways like Jordan he has made himself available to me.

“It is not a case of ‘well, put the experienced players in’, he (Cousins)has actually said to me the way he has trained and the way he has performed ‘I want to be in the team’.

“You don’t want to rush them and Diego is one that when the chance arises and when it is right he will be involved.

“At this present time he has still got to learn a lot but he is on the right pathway and that is exactly how we want it.”

When asked if a loan move would be beneficial for his development, Powell replied: “Maybe, maybe not.

“He hasn’t been out yet, it has got to be the right club that plays him in the right position.

Lads always talk about going out on loan, it is not that easy firstly to place them at the right club but also it is not that easy for them.

“I went to watch Michael Smith last week at Wimbledon, it is the first time he has played nine or 10 games on the spin and it is pretty hard.

“It is still good for them to go through the highs and lows.

“Will Diego go out on loan? Not at this present time, maybe in the new year if we feel it would aid him. We will have to wait and see.”

Powell added: “Gus isn’t constantly in contact with us, he is obviously someone we speak to from time to time but it is not constant, he is not like that.

“He wants his son to develop away from him as well.

“Sometimes that is better because they find their feet and they develop as their own individual.

“He is a player who will be good for us in the future.

“When the time is right we speak to Gus but not constantly, he has got a very big job on his hands now.”

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