Reported Middlesbrough and Derby County target Dillon Phillips will not sign a new contract at Charlton Athletic, director of football Steve Gallen has told London News Online.
It has been a pretty horrible summer so far for Addicks fans and, unfortunately, things could get worse before they get better.
While concerns are emerging once again about Charlton’s ownership, the Londoners also look set to lose a whole host of star players after they were relegated from the Championship on the final day of the season.
Lyle Taylor has already gone and Macauley Bonne, the 11-goal joint top-scorer, could follow.
Goalkeeper Phillips, meanwhile, is out of contract next year and attracting admiring glances after an impressive debut season at Championship level.
“No one has been telling me we have to sell him,” said Gallen. “His situation is a bit different in that he has only got one year left.
“I know that Dillon and his agent have said they won’t sign a contract. But again I don’t want to lose Dillon Phillips and neither does Lee Bowyer.
“If anyone has come to us about players I have gone straight back with ‘they are not for sale’. We don’t want to be selling anyone because we want to be challenging at the top.”
Keeping Phillips could be easier said than done, however.
The Mail reports that Middlesbrough will offer the 25-year-old academy graduate a lifeline in the second tier, with neither Ainsley Pears nor Dejan Stojanovic managing to nail down a first-team role under Neil Warnock at the Riverside.
Derby are also linked, via the Mail (30 July, page 64).
Phillips would surely represent a sizeable upgrade on Ben Hamer and the equally erratic Kelle Roos.
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