Wales international Matt Smith is back at Manchester City after Charlton turned down an option to extend his loan until the end of the season.
The Blues defensive midfielder joined the Championship side in January but his stay was disrupted by injury, and then by the coronavirus lockdown.
He made just two appearances, both off the subs’ bench, and his temporary contract expired at the end of June.
City were happy for Smith to stay at Charlton for the rest of the re-started season, but the London club’s manager Lee Bowyer said that did not make financial sense.
“If things had gone well and we’d have been able to get him on the pitch then maybe he would’ve played the last two,” said Bowyer. “That’s if everything had gone well and if he’d caught up fitness-wise.
“He probably wouldn’t have been match fit and available until the last two, at best.
“The club decided it was not worth their while to do that. It’s nothing against the lad, he was a great lad to work with.
“But financially to pay for someone that is not really going to be an option for us, it would be silly to do that.”
The 20-year-old had a successful loan at FC Twente in Holland last season, and was at QPR for the opening half of the current campaign, a deal which was cut short.
He has won seven full international caps, but has yet to figure in a senior City squad.
