Speaking to London News Online, Charlton Athletic boss Lee Bowyer has said an extension to Manchester City midfielder Matt Smith’s loan deal would have made no financial sense.
In the January transfer window, Manchester City’s young midfielder Matt Smith penned a deal to spend the second half of the 2019/20 Championship campaign with Charlton Athletic.
Smith had spent the first half of the season with QPR but made the switch to the Addicks. With QPR, Smith only managed 10 appearances, laying on one assist in the process.
Unfortunately, his spell at The Valley was not particularly successful either.
Smith appeared twice for Charlton Athletic, both coming off the bench. Prior to the season’s resumption, he had suffered a hamstring injury that would have limited his involvement, thus leading to the confirmation that his loan deal would not be extended.
Now, Charlton boss Lee Bowyer has opened up on the decision to opt against extending Smith’s stay. Speaking to London News Online, he said that it would not have made financial sense to extend the midfielder’s stay. He said:
“If things had gone well and we’d have been able to get him on the pitch. Then maybe he would’ve played the last two. That’s if everything had gone well and if he’d caught up fitness-wise.
“He probably wouldn’t have been match fit and available until the last two, at best.
“The club decided it was not worth their while to do that. It’s nothing against the lad. He was a great lad to work with. But financially to pay for someone that is not really going to be an option for us, it would be silly to do that.”
Do you think Charlton Athletic made the right choice? Would you have extended Smith’s loan deal? Let us know your thoughts in the poll at the bottom of the page.
In other Charlton Athletic news, one of the club’s former players has become a free agent after being released by a League Two club – find out more about that here.
