League One Charlton Athletic have confirmed the loan signing of Blues striker Freddie Ladapo.

The 30-year-old’s departure during this window had been widely expected with his opportunities having been limited since the Blues were promoted to the Championship, even since George Hirst suffered the hamstring injury which is set to rule him out for most of the rest of the season.

Discussions regarding the switch have been ongoing for more than a week and were finally concluded today.

Ladapo joined the Blues after leaving Rotherham in the summer of 2022 and has scored 25 goals in 33 starts and 42 sub appearances, and was a member of the squad which secured promotion from League One last season, netting 21 times in that campaign. He has another year and a half left on his Town contract.

The Romford-born forward’s younger brother Tolu is already a player at the Valley.

Ladapo becomes the second Town player on loan at the Valley, Panutche Camara having made the move for the season in the summer.

“I'm really happy to be joining Charlton. I'm so excited to be here and I'm looking forward to seeing what we can achieve during the rest of the season.” the striker told the Addicks website.

Michael Appleton, Charlton’s head coach, added: “Freddie’s a massive goal threat who brings lots of quality.

“He’s a player who’s comfortable playing with his back to goal and running towards goal. He’s very quick, he’s athletic, he’s got a very good record at this level and he’s a really exciting signing. I think everyone is going to look forward to having him on board.”

Technical director Andy Scott said: “Freddie is someone we’ve been after for a long time. He’s got a proven record of scoring goals in this league and getting promotions.

“He’s been at Ipswich most recently and shown he can compete in the Championship as well. It’s a major coup to be able to bring in a player of his quality.”

Ladapo’s exit means the Blues’ need to add to their striking ranks has increased further with Hirst out for all bar the last knockings of the campaign and Dane Scarlett having returned to parent club Tottenham.

Town have been in talks with AFC Bournemouth regarding former striker Kieffer Moore returning to Portman Road on loan, while a move for Blackburn’s Sam Gallagher stalled earlier in the week with Rovers concerned that his exit would leave them short of frontmen.

That situation may change with reports that the Lancastrians are targeting Birmingham City striker Lukas Jutkiewicz, although we understand no progress has been made on the Gallagher move, despite the player understood to be keen on the switch, while Stoke City and Sunderland are also believed to have shown interest during this window.

Elsewhere, former Town midfielder Andre Dozzell has joined Birmingham City, now managed by Blues legend Tony Mowbray, on loan from QPR.

Arsenal forward Tyreece John-Jules, who was on loan with Town last season, has extended his current spell with Derby County until the end of the 2023/24 season.

Ex-Town academy defender Calum Logan, 17, has signed his first professional deal with Tottenham, the club he left the Playford Road youth set-up to join in April last year.

Meanwhile, Monday’s opponents Leicester City have lost loan midfielder Cesare Casadei, who has been recalled by his parent club Chelsea.

Photo: Matchday Images

FrankMarshall added 21:58 - Jan 19 Good luck Freddie! Looks like Jackson or Buabo up front against Leicester then. Hirst, Scarlett and now Ladapo; we are very short on strikers (probably the most difficult signings to get right also).
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BrettenhamBlue added 22:13 - Jan 19 Not that short on strikers Frank. Don't forget we have Tete Yengi, who worked his socks off last year and is very ready for a first time spot.
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BrettenhamBlue added 22:14 - Jan 19 *team*
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rkl added 22:20 - Jan 19 Will they still sing “Woolfie at the back, Ladapo in attack”?
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Bert added 22:49 - Jan 19 If Freddie’s first touch improves he could yet be a decent player for Town in the future. My guess is that he will stay at Charlton if we get promoted.
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algarvefan added 23:25 - Jan 19 Tim Kleindienst from Bundesliga 2, apparently Town have a 4m quid bid in for him. Looks a big powerful lad and was the leagues top scorer last season.
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Gforce added 23:28 - Jan 19 Brettenhamblue......Yengi was sold to Livingston a couple of ago !
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Gforce added 23:30 - Jan 19 #weeks ago.
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Gforce added 23:33 - Jan 19 Algarvefan......Never heard of him,but sounds promising .
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Cadiar added 23:53 - Jan 19 Good luck Freddie. Don't know where Medblue got his notion of FL'S attitude from but certainly not KM. Just another making snide remarks, probably will be picking on KJ next. Ladapo was a big influence in the dressing room apparently, I've never seen a thing wrong, always gave 100%. Will miss the smile. His goal record for minutes played is far better than Hirst's actually but he is not a similar player. Is Hirst good enough to play Premier football???

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Cadiar added 00:04 - Jan 20 Just seen we have a bid in for Kleindeinst, 4M. Hope it works out as alternatives in EFL are not great & very over priced. Personally don't want loans & certainly not Moore. I thought KM might go for someone not on the spectrum. Think we need 2 forwards however.
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Cadiar added 00:28 - Jan 20 Kleindeinst's record with current club (Bundeliga1)is better than a goal every 2 games. Made his professional debut against Fortuna, is that an omen?
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Cadiar added 00:28 - Jan 20 Kleindeinst's record with current club (Bundeliga1)is better than a goal every 2 games. Made his professional debut against Fortuna, is that an omen?
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Cadiar added 00:28 - Jan 20 Kleindeinst's record with current club (Bundeliga1)is better than a goal every 2 games. Made his professional debut against Fortuna, is that an omen?
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BrettenhamBlue added 00:43 - Jan 20 Apologies GForce. I looked him up and saw he was sold at the beginning of the transfer window. Missed that completely! Ok, 4 strikers down. Not so good.
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PhuketPete added 01:57 - Jan 20 Bye bye Freddie. Thanks for your service and good luck at CAFC. But for me the best thing about this article is reading that Chelsea recalled Casadei. I didn’t know that. Leic has been hit far worse than us by suspension, injury, recalls and Asian/Afcon cups. Despite our own troubles, we’ve added LT and am confident he’ll be fine with Jack in MF. Fridge will again be more than capable at CB and same for Jacko up front who will cause Leic all sorts of issues up front. Have a good feeling about Monday ..!!!

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Sospiri added 04:21 - Jan 20 Kleindienst scored 25 goals in 32 appearances in the German second division last season. Amazing goals per game in a not-bad-at-all league.
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Wooly74 added 08:42 - Jan 20 Sorry, but anyone who thinks Jackson will cause Leicester issues on Monday needs examined! At 49, in my work shoes, I’d cause Leicester more issues on Monday night. I can’t see that we would have let Freddie go to Charlton if we didn’t have arrivals today, my bet is Moore return on loan probably and let’s hope that he can hit the ground running.
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Umros added 08:48 - Jan 20 Looking back at his record, a valuable contribution to our promotion season and with thanks, unfortunately the performances have dipped in championship and he has increasingly looked lazy and disinterested the more he plays. Rotherham were promoted and then offloaded him to us, same again would indicate he has a peak level of league 1 and therefore expect him to do well at Charlton.

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itfckenty added 09:24 - Jan 20 People keep mentioning this 4m bid for this German guy Tim. You are mental. Do you really believe we're going to spend 4m? His unproven in English football for one, and he will need time to adapt. not the sort of player we need in Jan. Personally I'm guessing one potentially today (loan) and then we will see another that is a buy at some point before next weekend.
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Linkboy13 added 09:45 - Jan 20 Ive been thinking for a while now why we don't look in Europe for players. Players in this country are vastly over priced and you tend to get more for your money with players from Europe and our wages are in general much better. The disadvantage is they find it much harder to settle in to different surroundings. Some fans have been living under a stone for several years if they think 4 million pounds is a lot of money by championship standards maybe it is for a 28 year old but if he can get us into the Premier league it's money well spent whether he can play at that level is a different matter.

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Texastom added 11:00 - Jan 20 Outstanding for Ipswich when played regularly really liked him. Shame he’s going instead of Jackson. Scored some crucial goals.
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Texastom added 11:02 - Jan 20 Also another example we should be looking at our Youth system. One of the only areas we need to get sorted.
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KMcBlue added 11:35 - Jan 20 Shame we haven't sold him
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oldegold added 14:39 - Jan 20 I liked Freddie's contribution to the Promotion season but on the few occasions he played this season, he seemed disinterested and lackadaisical so a parting of the ways seems the best option for both parties methinks...we need motivated players to take us to the higher echelons of English football...
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