Gillingham striker Tom Eaves has been linked with a move to Chartlon Athletic having become a free agent.

Charlton lost Karlan Grant to Huddersfield in January and his short term replacement, Josh Parker, has been released.

Igor Vetokele and Reeco Hackett-Fairchild have also been released, leaving Lyle Taylor as the only recognised senior striker at the club.

Lee Bowyer will be looking to bring in two or three front men before the Championship campaign begins in August.

The transfer window in England is more complex now that it closes for permanent deals in early August, though EFL clubs can still bring in loan signings until the end of the month.

It leaves Premier League clubs vulnerable to late swoops from foreign sides. The PL clubs are unable to replace a player lost in the last weeks of August, so they hang on to all their fringe players until they have to submit their squad lists to the PL at the end of the month.

The knock on effect is EFL clubs, who rely on loan players from PL sides, can not complete their squads until the season is nearly a month old. Krystian Bielik and Josh Cullen were late arrivals at The Valley last August.

The Addicks are likely to have one of the smallest ‎budgets in the Championship, and with strikers being expensive commodities, they may start the season short of firepower.

‎Lee Bowyer’s side were linked with a move for Gillingham’s Tom Eaves in January.

Eaves scored 21 goals in 43 league outings for the Gills, and is now a free agent.

A target man who has a good strike rate, he could be a useful partner for Taylor, if he can make the transition to playing at a higher level.

There are rumours ‎that Eaves will start pre-season training with Charlton. This would give Bowyer and Steve Gallen the opportunity to assess his possibilities as a Championship striker.