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Addicks to cash in on star strikers

Charlton striker Luke Varney is crowded out at Stonebridge Road. Picture: Matthew Reading
Charlton striker Luke Varney is crowded out at Stonebridge Road. Picture: Matthew Reading

Ebbsfleet 0 Charlton 6

Charlton are on the verge of selling strikers Marcus Bent and Chris Iwelumo.

Bent is set to join Championship rivals Cardiff City while the Addicks are talking with Wolves who are thought to have bid £400,000 for Iwelumo, who arrived at The Valley on a free transfer from Colchester in May last year.

Manager Alan Pardew, who has a surplus of strikers, is keen to sell in order to generate revenue for a defender.

Speaking after Saturday's 6-0 rout of Blue Square Premier Ebbsfleet at Stonebridge Road, Pardew said: "I do think we need the boost of a player. We are trying on a mumber of fronts to get players in, especially a defender.

"Marcus Bent and Chris Iwelumo could be leaving this week. They are two big players that would be useful for us during a season but financially we can't do it."

Pardew dismissed a report that he had signed former Watford favourite Hameur Bouazza from Fulham on a season-long loan.

He said: "We have made contact with Fulham but they don't want to do business at the moment."

Watched by a crowd of 1,859, a depleted Ebbsfleet suffered the indignity of conceding an own goal after 15 seconds when Darius Charles got himself into a tangle attempting to clear Jonathan Fortune's long clearance.

Worse was to follow when ex-Gill Craig Stone put through his own goal in the 12th minute. Scott Wagstaff (36), Andy Gray (56), Jon Shelvey (59) and Therry Racon's pick of the afternoon in the 68th minute rounded off the scoring.

Charlton leave for a training camp in Jerez, Spain on Monday. During their nine-day stay, they will play a Gibraltar side. A proposed friendly with the Iranian national side has been cancelled.

Ebbsfleet manager Liam Daish said: "Unfortunately this friendly came a little too soon for us. Maybe you need a couple of games under your belt before you take on a Championship side.

"We had six players out which didn't help. But at least a few players got 90 minutes under their belts having been dropped in at the deep end."

The Fleet included former Arsenal player Isiah Rankin who cost £1.3million when he moved from the Gunners to Bradford in 1998. He was with Stevenage last season.

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