Twenty five year old Tayo Edun has joined Charlton on a two year contract with an option for a further year. He can operate in defence or midfield but, perhaps more importantly, he's a naturally left-sided player. It seems a long time since the club had the luxury of fielding  a left-footed left back.

He began his career with Fulham and while there he played in the victorious England team in the European under 19s Championship in July 2017. He was in a squad which included Mason Mount, Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James, Ryan Sessegnon and our old favourite Jay DaSilva. Tayo was sent off (for two yellow cards) in the 84th minute of the final but the team hung on to beat Portugal 2-1 and he was subsequently named in the Team of the Tournament.

He played six games on loan at Ipswich in The Championship in 2018 but didn't manage to break into the Fulham first team and left for Lincoln City. He was virtually ever-present in the 2020-21 League One season including playing in the Imps team that narrowly lost to Blackpool at Wembley in the play-off final. Blackburn Rovers were sufficiently impressed to sign him on transfer deadline day in August 2021 and he made twenty appearances for them as they finished eighth in The Championship. However, last season he was a more peripheral figure - featuring only thirteen times.

Dean Holden said:

"He’s a player that we’ve chased for quite a while now and I’m glad that it’s all done and he’s a Charlton Athletic player. He’s got real good quality on the ball in terms of his technical ability, he can get up and down the pitch and he can play in a couple of positions as well. Crucially, more than anything, he’s desperate to come here. He’s got huge ambition and that’s the key thing for me. He comes here and he’s going to be a leader who really drives the rest of the players on alongside him. He’s a really exciting player who I’m delighted that we’ve signed.”