Charlton Athletic are reportedly close to agreeing a deal to bring Nottingham Forest midfielder John Bostock to The Valley until the end of the season.

Football Insider are reporting that, after a major breakthrough in talks, the former Tottenham Hotspur starlet is set to link up with The Addicks by tonight's deadline.

Bostock is currently on loan with Forest from Ligue 1 side Toulouse but has tumbled down Sabri Lamouchi's pecking order in rapid time over the last few months, making just three Championship appearances all season.

According to the latest report, it appears that Toulouse are willing to cancel his loan with The Reds in order to allow him his move to South London.

He will become the club's third signing of the January window, following Andre Green's move from Aston Villa and Aiden McGeady's from Sunderland.

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The verdict

This is a signing that does not bring any guarantees with it at all.

In his few appearances at Forest, there were certainly flashes of the ability that Bostock still possesses but ultimately he failed badly to show it regularly enough and, presumably, to Lamouchi in training too.

But during his time at the club, Bowyer has rarely made a bad signing and with Connor Gallagher departing earlier in the month, they certainly needed to bolster that area.

If it comes good for The Addicks, it will be an absolute master stroke from the club. In their current position, Charlton are never likely to attract fancy signings. Bringing in loanees to see them safe before strengthening in the summer is the right thing to do.