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Digg ThisBEIJING, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Charlton Athletic have signed China captain Zheng Zhi in a 2 million-pound ($4.05 million) deal after the versatile midfielder impressed during a six-month loan stint with the relegated London club last season.
The English second division club's manager Alan Pardew said securing the 26-year-old Zheng's services on a two-year contract was a "huge boost".
"I hope we will be able to get him here as soon as possible and integrate him into the new squad," Pardew said on the club's Web site.
"Plenty of people have worked very hard behind the scenes to get this deal done and I would like to thank them and Shandong Luneng for helping to make the deal happen."
Zheng returned to his Chinese club Shandong in May after 12 appearances for Charlton during their fruitless bid to avoid relegation from the Premier League last season.
The pacy midfielder was reportedly in talks with several top-flight clubs before agreeing to go back to Charlton.
"Returning to Charlton is not a bad choice," the Shanghai Daily quoted Zheng as saying. "As a Chinese player, I have nothing to complain about because we have very few choices."
