Charlton Athletic boss Lee Bowyer has opened up about the club's failure to sign Ivan Toney from Peterborough United.

The Addicks were heavily linked with a move for the 23-year-old during the latter stages of the summer transfer window but Posh owner Darragh MacAnthony turned down a number of offers from the club for the forward.

Speaking to London News Online about how a move for the former Northampton Town man would have been funded, Bowyer said: "The Anfernee [Dijksteel] money was going to go on Toney.

"But that didn't come off.

"We were always trying to keep Lyle [Taylor]. The plan was to play Toney alongside Lyle.

"That's why we sold Anfernee [to spend the money in other areas of the pitch."

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Dijksteel left Charlton to join Middlesbrough last week for a fee believed to be in the region of £2m after emerging as a regular for the London-based outfit last season.

Whereas the Addicks were unable to bring in Toney using the windfall gained from the defender's sale, they did manage to secure the services of Sam Field, Jonathan Leko and Beram Kayal for the 2019/20 campaign on transfer deadline day.

The Verdict

Although losing out on Toney may have put a dampener on Bowyer's spirits last week, it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the Charlton boss.

Despite firing in an impressive total of 16 goals for Peterborough last season in League One, there would have been no guarantee that he could have replicated this kind of form for the Addicks in a division which he has yet to prove himself in.

Furthermore, when you consider that Charlton had already signed Macauley Bonne and Chuks Aneke, it could be argued that they didn't necessarily need to bolster their attack options.

With Taylor already proving to be a menace at Championship level by firing in two goals for the Addicks this season, there is no reason why they cannot achieve a great deal of success without being able to call upon the services of Toney.