Plenty of talk at The Valley on Saturday that a fee, thought to be in the region of £2million, had been agreed for Birmingham central defender, Harlee Dean.

The 6’3″ Basingstoke born player played for numerous non-league teams before signing for Dagenham & Redbridge.

Dean signed for Southampton in 2012, and then spent five years with Brentford before joining Birmingham in 2017.

‎He made 224 league appearances for the Bees, and has made over 100 Championship starts for the Blues, including 24 this season.

It is now 15 games since Charlton last kept a clean sheet, so the addition of a dominant defender is much needed.

At Thursday’s press conference, Steve Gallen said the Addicks wanted to make three permanent signings, plus another on loan,  during the January window.

Gallen will be working hard to bring a striker in. Blackpool’s Armand Gnanduillet was thought to be Charlton’s top target. 

But the Blackpool Gazette reported that the Addicks had moved on to other targets after failing to agree a fee for the Frenchman.

However, that deal could still happen.