Charlton ace Alfie Doughty will not sign new contract – as Stoke City push for January deal
Alfie Doughty will not sign a contract extension with Charlton Athletic – with Stoke City making a move for the attacker.
A report on Football Insider has claimed that the Championship side have tabled an offer for the 21-year-old, whose SE7 contract expires in the summer.
Stoke were admirers of Doughty in the last transfer window but the Addicks decided not to part with their academy product, who was the subject of multiple bids from Celtic.
Charlton owner Thomas Sandgaard has confirmed to our paper that Charlton are in talks with Stoke but also indicated there are other clubs who they are also negotiating with.
Charlton manager Lee Bowyer – when asked on Monday by the South London Press about contract negotiations – said: “Steve [Gallen, director of football] spoke to the agent and the agent is saying that as it stands today he is not going to sign.
“In terms of moving on, I don’t know. Obviously there was interest in the summer for him. I don’t know if clubs will come in again now for him. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Doughty is currently sidelined with a torn hamstring and is not expected to be back in training until February.
If the Addicks hold on to the pacey winger then they would be eligible for compensation. But that figure does drop if he moves outside of the UK.
Another good example of a player who owes his high rating the likes of Lee Bowyer and co, who gave him his big chance. He has not played that many games for Charlton, so why, other than that old lure of big money, would he want to turn his back on Charlton. The other important issue is with the injury he sustained, he may not be as pacey as he once was ( I sincerely hope not ! ) once he is up and running again. Look what happened to the likes of Michael Owen, who never regained his full pace after recurring hamstring injuries. From what we are told, Alfie’s injury is a serious one. It may be that if Charlton do release him, it may be more to their benefit than meets the eye. Time will tell.