Waiting game for Charlton Athletic as players weigh up best options in transfer market

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

Charlton Athletic are playing a waiting game on the contract offers they have made to existing squad members.

The likes of top-scorer Chuks Aneke, club captain Jason Pearce and Adam Matthews will see their existing deals expire on July 1.

Addicks manager Adkins, pictured, said: “They are free agents and they can go and speak to any football club out there.

“Let’s remember the transfer window is open after the season starts, so there is going to be loads of speculation about what can and can’t be done.

“The other factor is agents want to get the best deals for their players and they need to get paid as well. This is the process that goes on.

“We can become very, very frustrated by it or recognise this is what it is and bring the right people into the football club with the right attitudes.

“Managers, up and down the country will say: ‘We want everybody done yesterday’. But the reality is that doesn’t happen.

“It can be very frustrating for all of us – you want decisions straight away.

“The players are still contracted to us, and will still get paid by us [until July 1]. They have got up to that time to make their decision.

“Steve Gallen [director of football] is excellent, from what I can see. He negotiates the finances with the agents and Ged Roddy [technical director] is working very closely with Steve. The recruitment team are working very hard to identify the players out there and the owner Thomas [Sandgaard] is very active as well, which is great.

“There are a lot of conversations going on.

“I’ve been at football clubs and it can be very challenging bringing 12 or 13 players in, that doesn’t happen overnight. That can sometimes happen at the very end.

“What you want ideally is to be in a position to freshen it up and improving what you’ve got with two or three signings. We’re working very hard behind the scenes.”

Adkins is also set to assess if any of the younger players are ready for greater senior involvement.

He said: “We’re back on June 24 for pre-season testing. We’ve got less than a month to get our squad together for the start of that. It is a great opportunity for the young players to join in and be involved with us.

“We can have a good look at them and decide if they stay with our squad, stay with the U23s or U18s or potentially go out on loan where they can get more development and we can take a look again in January or the following season

“You need a couple of good senior players who are role models to help other players develop. They might not be first-choice players, but they can help with how some of the younger ones conduct themselves around the place. They can pass on their knowledge and experience.”

PICTURE: PAUL EDWARDS