Charlton Athletic owner Sandgaard on reason they can’t always be in control of transfer signings
Charlton Athletic owner Thomas Sandgaard has explained why the club may not be able to conduct all their transfer business early in the summer transfer window.
The Addicks are facing up to another hectic summer of transactions although they also have a number of their senior squad still under contract beyond the end of July.
Sections of Charlton’s fanbase want the Addicks to have the majority of their playing personnel in place when the SE7 outfit head back to pre-season training.
Sandgaard was asked that question when he sat down with fan adviser Lucy Bishop last week.
He said: “Last season because of developing the recruiting system, we got out of the starting blocks really late. Everyone was frustrated about that – Nigel Adkins, in particular, was very frustrated.
“A lot of our recruiting really happened towards the end of the window. We are already working on seeing if we can start earlier this window. Some of it we might be successful with but there are also other situations. A good example is we negotiate with a player and an agent to come and play for Charlton – our final verbal agreement suddenly gets shopped around and the agent decides to push that all the way to deadline day.
“Maybe we get the player or another club goes ‘hmm, if I just increase the agent’s percentage a little bit’. Boom, maybe he goes to another club on deadline day – but we had a deal.
“So we’re not entirely in control of how soon or even before the window with free agents, for instance, that we ideally want to add to the team. That is the reason why so many deals happen on deadline day because it is financially beneficial for agents and the players.
“We’ve already had the first two meetings on what we are looking for next season. It seems like both Johnnie [Jackson] and I are very much agreed on what positions we need improvements on. It’s very much a team effort. As we get down to a shortlist for certain positions then eventually Steve Gallen gets on the phone with the agents and does his horse-trading. He’s one of the best negotiators I’ve ever met. He does an excellent job on that.”
The full video of Sandgaard answering fans’ questions can be viewed here: www.cafc.co.uk/news/view/623dd82af029e/thomas-sandgaard-answers-supporter-questions
MAIN PICTURE: PAUL EDWARDS
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