LONDON, CMC – Doubt is hovering over Jonson Clarke-Harris’s 500 000 pounds sterling move to Charlton Athletic, with the Jamaica international yet to agree on personal terms almost two weeks after Peterborough accepted a bid from the Southeast London club.
The 29-year-old was missing from the squad that beat Charlton 2-1 away at the Valley on Saturday. Afterward, manager Daren Ferguson said there was a possibility the deal could be scuppered, especially with no agreement in sight between the player and Charlton.
“It’s gone quiet. Charlton have had a bid accepted a long time ago, but the personal terms are way off at the moment,” Ferguson said.
“Unless Michael Appleton (Charlton manager) was to tell me something different, I don’t think it will be happening.
“After the bid was accepted, you would have thought it might have happened by now. The league has nothing like ‘Jonno,’ but it’s out of my hands. It’s up to ‘Jonno’ and Charlton to strike a deal.”
Clarke-Harris was last season’s League One Golden Boot winner with 26 goals but was transfer-listed after Peterborough, nicknamed “the Posh,” failed to gain promotion to the Championship.
He saw a deadline-day move to Bristol Rovers collapse last September but is still expected to depart the club in the current January transfer window.
Appleton conceded there was “distance between both parties” and said Charlton would continue to explore other options if the deal fell through.
“That’s my understanding of it as well. Who knows if the deal is dead? But the distance between both parties shows it’s probably nearer to not being alive than being alive,” Appleton said.
“You’re always disappointed when a potential signing of that quality doesn’t happen, but you can’t keep hold of that disappointment too long.
“The reality is there are other options and players that we are working hard to try and bring in. If we can get one of those players, it will help us and improve us.”
Clarke-Harris has notched ten goals in all competitions this season.
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