After tracking the youngster for two years, Alan Curbishley finally managed to secure the signature of 21-year-old England international Darren Bent at the third attempt.
Charlton's first signing ahead of their sixth successive Premiership season, the striker left Ipswich Town for The Valley after the Tractor Boys finished third in the Coca-Cola Championship and failed to make the top flight via the play offs.
Bent, a product of the Ipswich youth system, scored 19 goals in 47 league starts last season and was the Suffolk side's top goal scorer in 2003/04 when he netted 16 times, despite spending a month on the sidelines.
At the age of 17, he made his first -team debut at Helsingborg in the UEFA Cup in November 2001 and scored his first senior goal at Newcastle United the same month in the league cup.
His one and only Premiership goal prior to joining the Addicks came in April 2004 against Middlesbrough. The Tooting-born forward took just 20 seconds to make an impact after coming off the bench to score the only goal of the match.
He went on to score a total of 56 goals in 116 starts before departing Portman Road.
Capped by England at U15, U16, U17 and U19 level, Darren made his debut for the U21s in a friendly away to Italy in February 2003.
At the time of signing for the Addicks, he had scored an impressive eight goals in 12 appearances at U21 level, many of which as a substitute.
Bent became the third former Tractor Boy to join the club in recent times, following the acquisition of Hermann Hreidarsson in March 2003 and Matt Holland later that summer, when he put pen to paper of a four-year contract. His old teammate Darren Ambrose later became the fourth when he signed from Newcastle United, and the duo - who are also close friends - have already begun to rekindle their great understanding on the pitch.
Charlton initially paid Ipswich £2.5m for Bent, but this figure could rise by a further £500,000 depending upon appearances and international recognition.
Lightning quick, Bent kick started his Addicks career by scoring six goals in eight pre-season appearances - including a hat-trick against Queen's Park Rangers - which should help give him the impetus to reproduce his consistent goal-scoring record in the Premiership next term.
Could Curbishley have found his 20-goal-a-season man?
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