Charlton Athletic Director Marian Mihail answered questions from fans yesterday, and provided an insight into how the club will operate in the transfer market this summer.

Like every other team in the EFL and through the world, Charlton are in a precarious position. Not only are they one of the thousands of sports teams who've been blighted by the outbreak, but they could be heading straight back down to League One without playing another Championship game this season.

Lee Bowyer's side sit in 22nd-place of the Championship table, finally dropping into the bottom-three after an arduous middle-part of the season but still, Mihail remains confident of a positive summer at The Valley:

"Again there will be external factors, including what division we are in and what the financial impacts of the coronavirus crisis are, which will likely impact what all clubs are spending on new players and wages," he told www.cafc.co.uk.

"Steve (Gallen) and Lee (Bowyer) have had to deal with challenges from a budget perspective throughout their time at the club and have excelled despite those challenges.

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Gallen, formerly the first-team coach at QPR, has been Charton's Head of Recruitment since 2017, and Director of Football since the start of this year.

"Steve is leading on the player recruitment strategy and has a list of at least four players we would look to target in each position," continued Mihail.

"At this stage, like the last two years, he will likely be operating in the free transfer and loan market but these are two markets he knows very well."

Charlton fans were expecting big spending last January but instead, Bowyer was left with scraps from the transfer market, and soon after the club's ongoing boardroom saga unfolded.

Charlton however remain under embargo due to Tahnoon Nimer's unwillingness, or inability to prove his 'source and sufficiency' of funding, and has subsequently placed his club under embargo by the EFL.

"Obviously, all this is based on us having the registration embargo lifted and that remains one of our key, immediate objectives," finished Mihail.

The verdict

Charlton face a contested summer. There's a lot to be sorted out at the club both on and off the pitch and it'll be interesting to see how the boardroom facade develops, and whether Charlton fans can ever get a sense of security under their new owners.