Charlton have signed former France World Cup captain and ex-West Ham midfielder Alou Diarra until the end of the Championship season.

The 33-year-old midfield powerhouse - who has been handed the No12 shirt - signed in time to be available for Tuesday's trip to leaders Derby County.

Head coach Guy Luzon said: "He will add some height, experience, and most of all, quality to the midfield.

"We lost Milos Veljkovic to injury and Johnnie Jackson is out for a month, so he will help us to bring results and more points.

"It's a coup for us that we can attract a player with so much international experience and I'm sure he will be fantastic for us."

The 6'3" defensive midfielder had youth spells with Bayern Munich and three years at Liverpool without making a first-team appearance but made his name playing in France.

Successful loan spells at Bastia and Lens earned him a permanent move to Lens and he went on to sign for Lyon and spend four years at Bordeaux.

A switch to Marseilles in 2011 lasted only a year before he was signed by West Ham, where he spent two ill-fated and injury-hit years, making just six appearances, and two premier League starts, before being released last summer.

He has however accrued 26 Champions League appearances during his career and also won 44 caps for France, appearing in two World Cups, including captaining his side at the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

Diarra is the Addicks' second signing in the space of four days after winger Chris Eagles joined last Thursday.