Stalemate over personal terms threatens Clarke-Harris deal

LONDON, England (CMC):

Doubt is hovering over Jonson Clarke-Harris’s 500,000 pounds sterling move to Charlton Athletic, with the Jamaica international yet to agree 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, and afterwards 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 – they’re 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. There’s nothing like ‘Jonno’ in the league, 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 dramatically last September but 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, in the event 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’s other options out there and other players that we are working hard to try and bring in. If we can get one of those players, then it will definitely help us and make us better.”

Clarke-Harris has notched10 goals in all competitions this season.