Charlton set to get Gray from Blues
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Your support makes all the difference.Charlton Athletic are close to making two signings as they fight for Premiership survival. An approach has been made for Julian Gray, the winger who has fallen out of favour at Birmingham City and will be out of contract in the summer.
Birmingham are hoping to receive a fee of around £500,000 for the 27-year-old, who is also attracting interest from Rangers and was linked to a move to Charlton last summer.
However, Birmingham's manager, Steve Bruce, is reluctant to allow players to leave St Andrew's until he has signed replacements. West Ham have stepped up their interest in Matthew Upson, despite Bruce's resistance, and are believed to have offered £6m plus Tyrone Mears for the injury-prone central defender.
The offer of Mears, a former Preston defender who is wanted by Derby, is unlikely to tempt Bruce, who has seen Stephen Kelly impress this season at right-back. Birmingham, who want £8m for Upson, may be interested in other West Ham players while lining up Sheffield Wednesday's Madjid Bougherra as a £3m replacement for Upson.
Charlton are close to beating Birmingham and three Premiership clubs, Reading, Fulham and Watford, to the signing of the FC Groningen midfielder Stefano Seedorf. The 24-year-old is the nephew of Milan's Clarence Seedorf and is set to arrive at The Valley on a free transfer. He has previously played for NAC Breda, after starting his career at Ajax.
Charlton, who have missed a number of targets this month, including Steven Pressley, Edgar Davids, Kepa Blanco and Alexei Smertin, who is to join Fulham, are considering a move for another midfielder, Kevin Amuneke. The 20-year-old Nigerian plays for the Portuguese side Vitoria Setubal and is on the fringes of his national squad.
Charlton will face late bids for the striker Darren Bent before the transfer window closes next Wednesday, including an offer from West Ham. But, having considered allowing the striker to go, the club are now adamant that they will not sell him.
* Tottenham will discover today whether they will gain a bye into the last 16 of the Uefa Cup after Feyenoord's expulsion as punishment for crowd trouble.
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