Ex Charlton Athletic trio and 'fearless' former QPR winger among 40 free agents at pre-season camp

A trio of former Charlton Athletic players and a ‘fearless’ former QPR winger are among 40 football free agents who have registered for pre-season training at the PFA camp this summer.

The training sessions are available to registered professionals during the 2024/25 season who are now out of contract and looking to keep things ticking as they look for a new club. The camp runs from June 30 to September 4 and is aimed at players who held a contract in the Premier League, EFL or an equivalent overseas last term.

The PFA have scheduled six friendlies over the course of the summer, which will give the uncontracted players chance to catch the eye of potential suitors as they look for new challenges. The second of which takes place against Port Vale on Tuesday afternoon.

PFA confirm free agents at training camp

There are some high profile names among those at the camp, including Paul Dummett, who left Newcastle United last year after 24 years and had short spells at Wigan Athletic and Carlisle United. Well-known Championship midfielder John Swift is also present following his departure from West Brom - he is expected to make the switch to Portsmouth this summer.

Patrick Bauer, Jake Forster-Caskey and Samuelle Lavelle are all names who will be familiar to Charlton Athletic supporters and are at the PFA training camp. The former made 135 appearances for the Addicks between 2015 and 2019 before moving to Preston North End, where he spent six years before his release. The centre-back helped the London outfit win the League One play-off against Sunderland in 2019.

Forster-Caskey was also part of that play-off winning team and went on to be named Player of the Year at The Valley in 2021. The 31-year-old’s time at the club included a significant lay-off with an ACL injury. He left Stevenage this year.

Lavelle was at Charlton Athletic between 2021 and 2023, but was loaned to Burton Albion towards the end of that period. He joined Carlisle United in 2023 and left the club this year.

QPR academy product looking for new club

Former QPR winger Olamide Shodipo is also at the PFA camp having be let go by Portuguese side Feirense. The 28-year-old is a product of the R’s academy and spent a total of 11 years at the club, but was sent on five loan spells.

He made a total of 44 appearances for QPR but never scored. Speaking about the player as he broke into the first team, former R’s midfielder Karl Henry praised the player’s fearlessness. He said: “It’s really good for QPR. It’s been something that the fans have wanted to see, and it’s been well documented that hardly any players have come through from the youth system here.

“Mide’s got a slight figure, he’s not a particularly big lad, but when he gets going he’s very difficult to get the ball off and he attacks really well down that right-hand side. He’s direct, has plenty of pace and his final ball is improving game-by-game, so he should be really pleased with the progress he is making - he’s really impressed me.”

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