Charlton boss would love to shake up squad in this transfer window – but salary cap makes it “so difficult”

Lee Bowyer has confirmed he would love to carry out extensive surgery on his Charlton squad this month – but that the League One salary cap will make that extremely difficult.

The Addicks have added Liam Millar and Ronnie Schwartz to their squad.

But they are set to sell winger Alfie Doughty – with three Championship sides having bids accepted for the 21-year-old. Dylan Levitt has been recalled by Manchester United today.

Asked if he would be looking to shake it up in this window, Bowyer said: “If I could, I would. Because there are too many who are in that comfort zone.

“It’s difficult. It’s so difficult. We’ve done well to get Ronnie through the door as one of the over-21 players.

“It’s going to be hard unless we move people out. But even that is not that easy. We could move a player out who is on say, for example, on £100 a week. But that doesn’t mean you can then replace them with a player on £100 a week. You might only have £30 of that £100 a week left that you can use. It’s so complicated.

“We’re always thinking ‘What about this player? What about that player?’ It’s so hard. Trust me, we’re trying our hardest to try and close that gap between us and the other squads.

“This cap is making it so difficult. It’s not the owner. He wants us to get stronger: ‘I’ll back you’. The only ones we might be able to do it is under-21 players and we know they are hit and miss. They aren’t going to come and help us get promoted today. They are players that we bring in for the future of the football club.

“This window is going to be really difficult.”

Asked if Omar Bogle was left out of the matchday 18, Bowyer replied: “Yeah, because he wasn’t good enough last game. I’ve spoken to Omar, so he knows the reasons. Sometimes people have to miss out – and Omar has missed out today.”