Charlton Athletic have offered new deals to Patrick Bauer, Joe Aribo, Jake Forster-Caskey and Tariqe Fosu.
Addicks boss Lee Bowyer said: “We’ve offered them a contract, they’ll either accept or decline, all we can do is offer contracts. The four of them are up, they’re the four we’ve chosen to offer contracts to.”
The club can confirm the following players will leave the club following the expiration of their current contracts:
- Igor Vetokele
- Josh Parker
- Ben Reeves
- Mark Marshall
- Nicky Ajose
- Jonny Williams
Bowyer said: “They are all different reasons as to why we haven’t offered those lads contracts. Obviously they’ve played a massive part in last season and that was probably the hardest part of any discussion I’ve had since being in charge.
“We were all on a high and then the next day we came into work and it’s then saying that we’re going to be letting them go. It was a horrible situation but that’s part of the game unfortunately. Some people stay, some people go, that happens at every football club every season. It’s never personal. It’s what we felt what we need going forward and they weren’t part of the plan but those lads were great last season for me, so all I can say is that I wish them all the best.”
He explained the door is still open for Williams: “We know what we have per player. Jonny came from a Premier League club who were paying most of his wage and we were paying a small percentage of that. For us to get close to what he was on before is just impossible.
“We explained the situation to Jonny. He’s going to have other clubs that are interested in him for sure. If the money isn’t what he’s looking for, or if there is any way we can get close to it, then we will be speaking to his agent, we will be keeping in contact. It’s not like we’ve shut the door on him, it’s half open, hoping that someone else doesn’t come and snap him up.”
Krystian Bielik, Josh Cullen, Chris Maxwell and Ben Purrington have all returned to their respective parent clubs following the expiration of their loan deals.
Bowyer said: “The loanees that came, they were all outstanding, every single one of them. Josh Cullen, Krystian Bielik, Ben Purrington, they’ve all gone back better players than when they arrived, I think that is clear to see.
“Josh Cullen became a full international, which is a great achievement for a young lad, so I think West Ham will be happy.
“Krystian Bielik is going back with a full season under his belt. I think the relationship we already had with those football clubs has already grown. There was already trust to loan them but I think there is a lot more trust, it can only be better for our relationship with those clubs.”
Elsewhere, youngsters Wassim Aouachria, Brendan Sarpong-Wiredu and Kennth Yao have all signed extensions with Charlton after successful seasons with Jason Euell’s U23s.
The U23s have been bolstered by the signing of Abraham Odoh following a successful loan spell at the club from Tooting & Mitcham. Luca Vega (Ipswich Town), Jay Mingi (West Ham) and Charles Clayden (Leyton Orient) have also joined Euell’s group.
The following U23s will leave the club following the expiration of their current contracts:
- Dan Bowry
- Luke Carey
- Joseph Cummings
- Reeco Hackett-Fairchild
- Terrique Hall-Anderson
- Mikhail Kennedy
- Jamie Mascoll
- Joshua Umerah
Meanwhile the following players have all become first year scholars
- Kareem Isiaka
- Samuel Keefe
- Jospeh Osaghae
- Johl Powell
Comments
Fosu won't sign, obviously they will get a development fee if they offer him something? Other than that no real shocks, Reeves was the one I wasn't sure about.
Reeco snapped up
*edit - maybe we will!
Vetokele and Reeves is a shame, Williams I'm not surprised as we can't afford him at all and the others won't make the step up. If Bauer and Aribo both say no it makes for very grim reading
Happens every time.
Reeves was probably on a fairly good wage being picked up as a free transfer. Not completely surprised he's gone but it does feel in a way his two years have gone really quickly. If we'd not gone up I expect we would have offered him a new deal. Fully expecting him to turn up at Oxford now.
Let's hope something can be sorted for Williams but with the performance he put on coming off the bench on Sunday somebody with a higher budget than ours will no doubt take a chance on him.
Only need to offer the same or better terms to get this.
** shuts down computer.
So that just leaves Bauer, Aribo, JFC and the door also open for Williams. Happy with this to be honest, Bowyer's been ruthless and he sounds confident he can bring in the players he wants.
It also sounded like from Bowyer's words that we may see Cullen and Bielik back as he mentioned the loan signings would be late like last season. That to me says he knows who he wants and he'll be waiting for the clubs to announce if either will be in their respective squads for this season.
Interesting times this summer. Let's hope we see positive news with Aribo and Bauer in particular. I'm convinced JFC will sign his new contract as i'm not sure anyone else in The Championship would put a deal on the table for him given his recent injury.
No surprises here imo. And wouldn’t have been to the players either. All would have known weeks / months in advance.
With Williams, I think people have lost sight of Premier League contracts and are in for a big shock this season with what we will be competing against financially.