Addicks ready Stephens offer

DALE STEPHENS

CHARLTON Athletic are set to test Athletic's resolve with a bid for star midfielder Dale Stephens.

The Addicks head a list of suitors for the 22-year-old, who appears to be on his way out of Boundary Park.

A number of other clubs are also monitoring the situation as Athletic seek to gain maximum recompense for a player who penned a new three-year contract in August of last year.

And chief executive Alan Hardy reaffirmed that funds received for Stephens — minus 20-per-cent which goes back to his former club Bury — would be ploughed back into boss Paul Dickov's playing budget.

"There are one or two clubs showing an interest (in Stephens), but we are not naming them," said Hardy this morning.

Athletic are not revealing the figure they are seeking for a player who bagged 10 league goals last season, one fewer than leading scorer Chris Taylor.

The club hope to add signings to the squad this week, with one of the first set to be Paul Black.

The left-back is expected to pen a new deal when he returns from a holiday.

A new name has entered the frame as Athletic hunt down a goalkeeper.

Accrington Stanley's Alex Cisak is believed to be a player targeted by Dickov, with the sticking point at the moment being the compensation his current club would be entitled to.

The Poland-born Australia under-20 international is out of contract at the Crown Ground, but as he is only 22 years old Stanley are entitled to a fee.

Cisak came through the ranks at Leicester City and played 25 times for Accrington last season as the club reached the play-offs in League Two.

Crewe striker Clayton Donaldson, meanwhile, is being linked with a move to newly-promoted Chesterfield.

The out-of-contract 29-year-old had held talks with Athletic over a possible move to Boundary Park.