ADDICKS director of recruitment Steve Gallen has said that the club is hoping to "strengthen" the team now that Ben Garner has been appointed manager.

Garner has been given a three-year deal at the Valley after the Addicks agreed to a compensation package with Swindon Town.

Six players, including striker Conor Washington and midfielder Ben Watson, have left the club on free transfers and three more have made their exits via the expiry of their loan deals.

Jonathan Leko, Akin Famewo and Mason Burstow have all returned to their parent clubs.

Speaking to CharltonTV on Garner’s appointment being the catalyst for transfer business to begin, Gallen said: “It was something I was waiting for, yeah.

“I am very impatient about things such as this – I want to get things done yesterday, in all honesty.

“I speak every year about trying to do things at the start [of the season], but on this occasion, it [the managerial hunt] has meant that we couldn’t do too much.

“Obviously, the manager has the final say on what players come into the club, and rightly so.

“I have had so many players lined up, warm, and been talking to and had Zoom calls and meetings with myself.

“Now that we have got Ben in, we can finally push that along. I have already had conversations with him about potential players, and he is really keen as well.

“Even today, we will be having quite a few discussions about where we are going to move to.

“We need a few in – we have lost a few players this summer. Hopefully, we can strengthen the team and do a lot better than we did last season.”

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