Charlton did have another crack at landing winger before he made Championship move
BY RICHARD CAWLEY
Lee Bowyer has confirmed Charlton did make a second attempt to sign Sorba Thomas – but could not compete once Huddersfield Town came into the equation.
The attacker, 21, has signed a deal with the Championship side until the summer of 2024.
Charlton had a bid rejected by Boreham Wood in October for Thomas, whose last appearance for the National League side came in Saturday’s 2-0 FA Cup defeat to Millwall.
The Addicks are impeded by the League One salary cap – with Bowyer mentioning on more than one occasion that owner Thomas Sandgaard is willing to spend more on strengthening the squad.
That cap averages out at wages of around £2,000 a week per player.
Clubs in the second tier have no limit on the salaries they can offer.
“We went back in there for him [Thomas] but when a Championship side comes in then we get blown out the water,” said Addicks manager Bowyer.
“These are the highs and lows in a transfer window. You can’t get too disappointed because they are not our players.
“Of course we have targets but sometimes you don’t get that player. That’s why we work so hard and don’t just have one or two people – we have five, six or seven.
“He [Thomas] was one we saw as a bit of a project.”
But Bowyer is confident there will be at least one more addition in this window.
“The likelihood of at least one more is high,” he said. “We’re speaking to people all the time and trying to get things over the line. But again it is not that simple. The cap is the problem. If there was no cap there would be no problem – we’d bring in quite a few players. But we can’t.
“We have to bring the best ones available and in certain positions we’re looking at there are not many available. They have to improve us.
“Liam Millar has improved us. Ronnie Schwartz is not even fit yet and he has improved us. He had one chance the other night and he scored.
“We have to be picky, not just bring in people for the sake of it. Whether they start games or come off the bench we can’t be any weaker for bringing them into the group.”
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