[ad_pod ]Charlton Athletic surprisingly – at first glance at least – offered forgotten man Tariqe Fous a new contract following the release of their retained list on Thursday, but South London Press sports editor Richard Cawley has said on Twitter it is still "99 per cent likely he will go".

What's the word, then?

Well, with the 23-year-old's contract up at the end of next month and having barely featured in recent times for the League One play-off winners, many would have assumed that the 23-year-old was on his way this summer.

However, the Addicks have decided to offer the midfielder new terms, which is actually completely expected given that they will now be due compensation should he sign for another club.

Cawley certainly expects that to be the case, having explained the decision by the south London outfit on Twitter.

He wrote: "Fosu deal is effectively to ensure that #cafc get compensation. Still 99 per cent likely he will go."

Check out what happened when two of Charlton's best players faced-off in a game of 'Splat' in the video below...

A surprise?

Not at all.

Despite clearly being hugely talented and scoring 11 goals and providing a further 10 assists in 65 appearances in all competitions for Charlton, something hasn't quite been right.

The 23-year-old found first-team minutes hard to come by in 2019 and failed to make the matchday squad at all from the start of April onwards.

That certainly suggested that something was afoot behind the scenes as Fosu's contract wound down, and Bowyer clearly wasn't happy with the versatile star given he has gone completely missing.

The Addicks won't want players that don't want to be at the club as their tight-knit squad look to make a successful return to the Championship next term, and a parting of ways with the south London side getting some compensation as a result seems like the best result for all parties.