Charlton Athletic confirm deal for Bristol Rovers captain Tom Lockyer

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Bristol Rovers captain Tom Lockyer has signed a two-year deal with Charlton Athletic.

The Gas fans’ favourite announced yesterday he was moving on.

Lockyer headed to the Addicks’ training ground on Friday morning to complete the transfer.

He becomes Charlton’s third signing of the close season with Milton Keynes striker Chuks Aneke confirmed just a little earlier today.

Centre-back Lockyer has been capped five times by Wales. He told Valley Pass: “The first time I sat down with Lee it was quite surreal to be honest, I was hanging off every word he said. I left the meeting thinking ‘Wow, this is a challenge I want to be a part of’. I’ve had meetings with other managers and compared them but it wasn’t quite something like that. I’m really excited to be working with him.”

Charlton manager Lee Bowyer said: “He’s a very good player, he’s a winner, he puts his body on the line. He defends properly like the way a defender should and he can play – I think that’s a big part of what we need to do next season, we need to play from the back and Tom’s an international with Wales so we’ve got a good signing in him. He was one of the few defenders that kept Lyle (Taylor) quiet last season.”

Charlton’s head of recruitment Steve Gallen said: “He is definitely a leader, that is what springs to my mind and I’ve seen him at Bristol Rovers with the armband the last couple of years and he plays like that, he plays like a captain. He’s a winner, he’s got a great attitude. He’s a good football player, he’s mobile and someone I’ve been following really for the last couple of years and we’ve worked hard on it over the summer.”