Charlton Athletic: New owners offer manager Lee Bowyer five-year contract following takeover

Charlton Athletic’s new owners are set to hand Lee Bowyer a new long-term contract after the manager made clear he is not satisfied with his current terms and demanded a swift resolution.

Bowyer, who began his playing career at The Valley, is expected to agree a five-year deal on an increased wage, which is currently thought to be less than £200,000 per year, a low figure for a manager in English football’s second tier where some of his counterparts earn as much as £2m annually.

“A 10-year contract would be nice with an unlimited budget,” Bowyer joked, speaking to media on Thursday. “I’ve not seen the offer that’s been put to my agent yet today, but me and the chairman have had some good conversations. I went and met a player last night and the chairman made that happen.”

Bowyer was named caretaker manager of Charlton in March 2018, and he led the club to the League One play-offs where they were knocked out by Shrewsbury Town in the semi-finals. That earned him a year-long deal under the controversial owner Roland Duchatelet, at the end of which Bowyer again took Charlton to the play-offs, this time securing promotion to the Championship with a dramatic injury-time winner against Sunderland at Wembley.

In the summer, Duchatelet initially stalled on offering a long-term contract, instead issuing a bizarre statement through the club which suggested Bowyer was making unreasonable demands and that talks had broken down, before announcing a 12-month contract the following day.

New owners East Street Investments completed a takeover of the club from Duchatelet last week. New chairman Matt Southall had suggested January transfer targets would be the immediate priority for the club and that Bowyer’s future would be resolved in February, but Bowyer appears to have persuaded Southall to put a contract offer on the table.

Speaking to the media on Thursday sitting alongside Bowyer, Southall described his frustration at protracted negotiations with the Belgian Duchatelet, whom Charlton fans have long wanted to depart their club.

“In an ideal world, we could have been in for October, sorted out contracts and then tackled the transfer window,” Southall said. “But the main priority is to get Lee tied down.

“We’ve seen what Lee said and we’ve taken note of that. He has received an offer this morning and his agent is coming to the game on Saturday, so hopefully we can hammer it out. Clubs have come in for him. I’ve told him we want him to stay and we’ve made that a priority.”

Bowyer said: “I want to be here for years to come. I love the club and I started as a kid here. Yes, I want to sign a new contract – the sooner the better. I want to be part of this journey because we finally have some backing. I’m excited.”

ESI are based in Abu Dhabi and backed by the finances of businessman Tahnoon Nimer, who Southall says is determined to bring sustainable back to Charlton after years of decline.

“Tahnoon Nimer oversees over 60 businesses – all of them are successful,” explained Southall. “He’s seen what’s gone on with other clubs and he wants to be a part of that. He has a love for football, he’s passionate and has done his own research about the club.”

Charlton, who are currently 19th in the Championship five points clear of the bottom three, take on promotion-chasing West Brom at The Valley on Saturday.

Read more

How Standard Liege offer Charlton hope of life after Duchatelet