Charlton have signed Portuguese international defender Jorge Costa from Porto in a £4m deal.

The 30-year-old central defender, dubbed "The Tank", joins on an initial five-month loan agreement, with the signing to be made permanent in the summer.

Costa, the Porto skipper, was part of the Portuguese team which won the World Youth Championship in 1991 and has more than 30 full caps, including one in the 3-2 win over England in Euro 2000.

Costa, who previously played for Penafiel and Maritimo, joined Porto in 1993 and was a key member of the side which won six Portuguese titles over a 10-year period in the 1990s.

Charlton have also signed sign Nottingham Forest 27-year-old Chris Bart-Williams, who scored 15 goals last season, on a month's loan.

Alan Curbishley said: "I've signed two players, who for different reasons are both anxious to be playing football. I needed to do something quickly after losing Mark Kinsella and Andy Todd with knee operations at the weekend.

"I first became aware of Jorge during Euro 2000 and when he became available I was keen to do something.

"He hasn't played since Portugal's World Cup qualifier in October, so we'll have to assess his fitness before deciding whether he can be involved at Chelsea, but I wouldn't have brought a player like him to the club if I didn't expect him to play a big part.

"Chris is in a different situation because of his contract situation at Forest and he's only here for a month.

"But we've got a lot of games coming up in December and if he does well a permanent move is a possibility."

December 4, 2001 12:26