Charlton Athletic director of football Steve Gallen has paid tribute to striker Macauley Bonne and goalkeeper Dillon Phillips for the way they handled their departures from the club during the summer transfer window.

Following Charlton's relegation to League One at the end of last season, both Bonne and Phillips secured quick returns to the Championship, joining QPR and Cardiff City respectively.

But while the departure of those two players will no doubt be a blow for Charlton, Gallen has no complaints about the way either conducted themselves during the process of their departure from the club.

Speaking to London News Online about Bonne's behaviour ahead of his move to QPR for a reported £2million, Gallen said: “They deserve a lot of credit. I’m not going to name names and get into battles but other people have left us not maybe in the most professional way.

“Macauley came to see me, sat down in one of the dugouts at the training ground to talk about QPR.

“I told him I understood his feelings but I work for Charlton Athletic and have got to do the best for this football club. And they haven’t met our valuation. He never mentioned it again. He got on with his business."

Explaining how that contrasted with some within the game, Gallen explained: “Other players are being told by their agents ‘go in and smash doors down’. He didn’t. Very polite, very decent – never complained. In the end we agreed a fee and I wished him all the best when he was having his medical."

On the situation that saw Phillips make the move to Cardiff on the final day of the window, Gallen added: “Dillon was excellent too. He trained every day. Never complained, never smashed doors down. Only on transfer deadline day did he come and see me.

“I said: ‘Dillon, you’ve waited patiently – let’s get this deal done’. I gave him permission to travel to Cardiff when we hadn’t even agreed a deal.

“I said: “What’s the worst that is going to happen, Dillon? You go halfway down the M4 and I ring you up and say come back. But if you don’t go down there you’ll never get the medical and all that stuff sorted’."

In the end, Charlton and Cardiff did get a deal sorted for Phillips, and it appears Gallen is more than pleased with how things worked out with the goalkeeper's move, as he claimed: “We got a very good deal for him.

"I saw another club sold a player to a Welsh club for half the money in a similar situation to us – one year on the contract, talking about not signing a new deal. We’re really happy with how that went."

The Verdict

I think you have to give credit all round here.

Given the scrutiny there was around certain departures from Charlton in the summer, it is refreshing to see that both Bonne and Phillips appear to have treated the club with the respect it deserves in securing their transfers elsewhere.

Equally, Gallen has done the exact same thing in allowing both players to secure better opportunities at those others clubs, once the circumstances were right for Charlton.

You feel that also ought to help the club in the future, since players are likely to be willing to join a club they know will not stand in their way to an over-excessive amount, if they feel there are things that can change to benefit their careers.