Former Birmingham City striker signing now free agent at 31 after Championship release

Former Birmingham City centre-forward Chuks Aneke will be released by Charlton Athletic at the end of this month.

The Addicks have confirmed their retained and released list for players seeing their contracts expire on June 30. Nathan Jones’ side, recently promoted to the Championship via the League One play-offs, have confirmed they will bid farewell to first-team players Dean Bouzanis, Aaron Henry, Danny Hylton and Tennai Watson, as well as Aneke.

Charlton boss Jones said: "We would like to thank every departing player for their professionalism and commitment throughout their time at Charlton Athletic. They have all played a big part in the environment and culture that we have been able to create, which has ultimately got us promoted to the Championship.”

Aneke leaves The Valley after a second spell at the club. The 31-year-old, an Arsenal academy product, spent one season at Birmingham as he joined from Charlton on a free transfer in 2020. Aneke’s move to St Andrew’s wasn’t a great success as he scored just two goals in 21 games throughout the 2021/22 campaign, with many of his appearances off the bench.

Charlton decided to re-sign Aneke in the summer of 2022 and the striker has played a substitute role ever since. The 26 league appearances made during the season just gone were the most Aneke racked up in the last four years - many of which were as an impact sub - but his time with the Addicks is now over.

After adding a promotion to his CV, Aneke will be looking for a new club this summer. It awaits to be seen if the former MK Dons and Crewe Alexandra man would prioritise a higher division or better game time, though all will become clear in the coming weeks.

Will Birmingham be active in the summer transfer window?

Elsewhere in Blues news, transfer business can now begin as the first brief window - from June 1 to June 10 - has now opened. Despite winning the League One title in emphatic style with a world record 111-point tally, Birmingham still see room for improvement and will be active.

The current squad would probably be strong enough to compete for the play-offs if a good run is put together, but manager Chris Davies has the financial backing to go one step further if he wishes.

It’s a pivotal summer for Birmingham as they seek to move one step closer to the Premier League. Plenty of new signings can be expected and there will be the odd departure here and there to make room. It’ll be tough to say farewell to some of those who helped Blues rise back to the second tier, but that’s just the nature of football.

One signing has already been agreed, with central defender Phil Neumann joining on a free transfer upon the expiry of his Hannover 96 contract. The German is expected to start alongside Player of the Season winner Christoph Klarer.

Another addition is possible soon, with Kwame Poku in talks to join from Peterborough United. Just like Neumann, the winger would join without a transfer fee as his Posh contract expires on June 30. Blues are eager to improve on the right flank and Poku would fill that void effectively.

The midfield pairing of Tomoki Iwata and Paik Seung-ho should hold in the Championship but Birmingham are understood to be drawing up a shortlist of players who can provide strong competition. Then there’s a desire to sign a new striker, with Alfie May and Lyndon Dykes likely to fall down the pecking order.