Lee Bowyer Extends Charlton Deal in Shock U-Turn Hours After Club Statement Announced His Departure

Lee Bowyer has signed a one-year contract extension at Charlton Athletic less than 24 hours after the club released a statement confirming his departure.

Bowyer took over as caretaker manager of Charlton in March 2018 and led the club to promotion from League One via a dramatic play-off final win at Wembley last month.

After a stalemate in contract discussions with owner Roland Duchatelet, the club released a statement confirming the two parties were unable to come to an agreement, and that Bowyer would leave the south east London club.

But in dramatic fashion, after deleting the previous announcement, the club released a statement on their official website to confirm the one-year contract extension.

The news of Bowyer's apparent departure had caused outrage among a fanbase who were desperate to continue next season with the man who lead them to an unlikely promotion in the previous campaign.

This U-turn is the latest in a long list of mishaps from owner Duchatelet, who has become an increasingly unpopular figure with the Valley faithful.

Duchatelet claims he has been trying to sell the club for more than 12 months, but has so far been unable to find a buyer. He has implied in the past that takeover deals have been very close, but after several failed attempts to sell, the club remains in his hands.

A few hours prior to any statement regarding the manager, the club announced the signing of Macauley Bonne from Leyton Orient, who will boost the Addicks' attacking options.

For Bowyer, his job will now be to continue building a squad capable of competing in next season's Championship. With several key players out of contract this summer, his first objective will be to tie them down to new deals - presumably in less dramatic fashion.