Charlton Athletic and ‘a group o‎f investors linked to the Australian Football Consortium’, issued this statement regarding the takeover on Tuesday:

“The group has a significant interest in the long-term prosperity of the club and is committed to seeing the deal go ahead.

Understandably, negotiations of this scale take time due to the enormous amount of due diligence that goes on behind the scenes, the need to satisfy the regulatory complexities of a football takeover and the challenges of assembling an ownership group.

The current ownership would like to assure the club’s supporters that the running of the club will remain its priority throughout this process. The club’s management team are focused on the club’s operations, and Lee Bowyer and his staff are continuing their preparations for the upcoming season.

We will provide a further update when further developments are made. In the meantime, thank you for your continued support.”

The statement does not really clarify the situation. Reading between the lines, it seems as though the group need more investors to be able to raise the money to meet the asking price.

One thing that looks certain, is that the deal will not be completed any time soon.

Lee Bowyer told the club’s website that he can not wait to get the players in for pre-season next week:

‎”I can’t wait. This is why we’re in the game, why I’ve been involved all these years. I love the game. To see everybody come together [last season] was great but now we have to carry on where we left off.

‎”The togetherness we had was unreal. I think everyone could tell that on the pitch. They were completely different, they were together and fighting for each other.

“Pre-season is massive and that’s what I’ve been saying to the owner. That’s why I’m looking forward to getting them [the players] all back together, laying down the laws and telling them what we expect and then making them believe in themselves that we are going for top two. We’re not messing about, we’re going top two and I won’t let them slack off of that 100%.

“I’m still preparing the same way I would if I was manager. There will be no difference. I’ll tell them that we’re going for promotion. That’s my aim. I’ve spoken to the owner and I’ve said ‘If you can give me four players then we’ll definitely be challenging top two for sure’.

“I don’t think we need much. I think we showed that. With the run-in we had at the end of last season and the teams we beat home and away I think it shows that we’re nearly there.

“If we can just tweak up on a couple of little details, I think we’ll have a great chance for sure because I know that I can get the best out of those players and I’ll improve them even more. I think we’ll have a great chance.”

Bowyer explained on Tuesday that the club were currently talking to a striker and a midfielder.

He described one of the four players he wants as ‘a bit‎ hit and miss’ due to the position he plays, which suggests he is a winger.

He also dropped a hint that the fourth player is a goalkeeper.

Bowyer will have one eye firmly fixed on the fixture list for the upcoming season, which will be released on Thursday morning.