By Michael Lynch
January 20 2004

Charlton Athletic have rejected what Chelsea have claimed to be their final offer for young midfielder Scott Parker, who wil now remain at The Valley.

 

Chelsea have indicated that this will be their final offer for Scott Parker and the highly-rated midfielder will now remain at The Valley. This will probably upset the young player even more as he was unhappy when his last bid was rejected.

"The board unanimously felt that both £7m and £7.5m were unacceptable offers for the best young midfield player in the country," said Charlton chief executive Peter Varney.

"Furthermore, the offer of further sums when Scott had made up to 90 appearances is not, in our opinion, something we can realistically budget to ever receive. Chelsea are one of the teams that rotate their playing squad and it could take several years, if at all, before such monies become payable.

"It has been an unsettling period both for us and Scott Parker, and brought us unwanted added pressure at a time when the focus should be on the excellent achievements we have made on the field.

"However, by turning down Chelsea's final offer, we can hopefully put this behind us and concentrate on maintaining our position of fourth place in the Premiership."

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