Bent poised to seal Addicks switch

Charlton are expected to complete the signing of striker Marcus Bent from Everton later today.

A £2.5m (€3.6m) deal was agreed between the two Barclays Premiership clubs yesterday, with the 27-year-old travelling to south-east London to thrash out personal terms and under go a medical.

Should everything go smoothly, the former Blackburn and Ipswich forward would provide a solid strike partner for England squad man Darren Bent, who played alongside his namesake at Portman Road.

Marcus Bent has seen his first-team opportunities limited at Goodison Park this season, having managed just one goal, away at Bolton back in August, after finishing as their second top scorer in the previous campaign as Everton qualified for the Champions League.

A return to London would hand the striker a welcome chance to resurrect his career in the top flight, where he also played for the Tractor Boys following a £3m (€4.4m) move from Ewood Park in November 2001 and then on-loan with Leicester after the Suffolk club’s relegation before his eventual cut-price sale to Everton in a £450,000 (€656,100) deal in the summer of 2004.

His arrival, however, would seem to push Francis Jeffers further down The Valley pecking order, the once-capped England international having recently returned from a disappointing loan spell at Rangers.