Lee Bowyer is confident he can now take Charlton forward after a dramatic breakthrough in his contract talks with the newly-promoted Championship club.
The Addicks announced on Tuesday morning their 42-year-old manager had agreed a one-year extension to his deal at The Valley, just a day after indicating he was likely to leave.
Owner Roland Duchatelet said on Monday the club had failed to agree terms with Bowyer because they could not meet his demands.
🔴⚪ Bowyer stays, the journey continues…#cafcpic.twitter.com/i7F34Q50kU— Charlton Athletic FC (@CAFCofficial) June 18, 2019
Bowyer had been offered a pay rise but Charlton said they could not pay the requested amount, or offer more than a 12-month extension, because they were up for sale.
These issues appear to have been resolved overnight with Bowyer, whose side were promoted after beating Sunderland in the League One play-off final last month, now plotting the way ahead.
The former Leeds and Newcastle midfielder told Sky Sports News: “It has disrupted us a little bit, I can’t lie.
“Players I’ve been seeing through the summer, to try and sign, have all been saying, ‘Well we’re going to see what’s happening with you first, we want to see what you are doing, we want to come and play under you’. So it has definitely stalled things.
“But now this has all been sorted out we can start moving forward and start bringing in players and start putting our squad together.
“We’re due to go back in a week Friday and I’m guessing we’ll have three, four, maybe five players coming in by then.”
Bowyer, who began his playing career with Charlton, was appointed full-time manager last September after a spell in caretaker charge following the departure of Karl Robinson.
He added on the club’s website, www.cafc.co.uk: “We went on a real journey last season and we achieved something special. The journey hasn’t finished yet and I’m delighted this has all been agreed.
“This has been a long process and I never wanted to leave. I love this club.”
Duchatelet is pleased to have secured the services of “one of the better managers in the Championship” without hampering his ability to sell Charlton in the near future.
Duchatelet said on talkSPORT: “I had two objectives – on the one hand sign Lee Bowyer, because I believe he is a major asset to the club, and on the other hand maintain the ability to sell the club.
“The problem was his agent was proposing things that would increase the liability on the club to such an extent it would increase the difficulty to sell.
“That was one of my problems and I am happy we have sorted that out and now have more of a reasonable agreement.
“We found an agreement which is in fact a very nice agreement for him, which is good, but also an agreement whereby we do not get into a big liability for the future. That is also very important for us.”
