Charlton owner Roland Duchatelet revealed Lee Bowyer’s contract extension demands would’ve hampered the ability to sell the club.

Bowyer has since agreed a one-year extension to stay at the helm of the club he led to the Championship last season in what the Belgian owner calls a ‘reasonable agreement.’

Duchatelet has long been trying to sell the club he bought in 2014 having had a bitter relationship with supporters since his arrival.

The Belgian revealed in an interview with talkSPORT’s Jim White that while he is trying to sell the club he was not willing to meet Bowyers initial demands as he felt a long-term deal would prove unattractive to a potential buyer.

“I hope the Club will be sold, the sooner the better if you ask me,” he said.

“I tried to combine both objectives of keeping (Lee) Bowyer on one hand and also keeping the club attractive to be sold.

“The problem was his agent was proposing things which would have increased the liability of the club to such an extent that it would have been difficult to sell.

"Well, increased the difficulty, because it’s difficult already.

“We found an agreement, which is a very nice agreement for him, which is good, but also one where we do not get into a liability for the future, which is important for us, and important in our ability to sell the club.”

News Shopper:

READ:

Bowyer agrees one-year contract extension

Reports last week suggested that the sale of the club were at an advanced stage with Cardiff City's Chairman Mehmet Dalman, however Duchatelet seemed to pour cold water that any deal was close, despite remaining optimistic.

“It’s unclear but it is certainly not days,” he continued.

“It is true because we got back to the Championship the interest has improved and there are always a few owners which have interest.

“But I think it’s not such an easy thing to sell a club, there are quite a few other Championship clubs for sale, and if you look at stats of Championship clubs that have been sold the last few years, decades it’s impressive how many clubs change hand, which means many new owners come in abut they are also happy to sell.

“Today we have an arrangement (with Bowyer) which is not inhibit the sale of the Club.”

READ:

Championship Gossip