What Nathan Jones has said after big Charlton Athletic news - Cardiff City will be disappointed | OneFootball

The Bluebirds were looking at bringing the Welshman back to the nation's capital.

Nathan Jones has agreed a new five-year deal with Charlton Athletic amid interest from Cardiff City.

There was a point when the Addicks wouldn't have been entirely confident that the man that led them back to the Championship would've been with them once they'd arrived at said destination.

Cardiff, who Jones supported as a boy, made attempts to poach him away from the Valley - a venture that would've cost them £1 million to complete.

It was subsequently stated by Darren Witcoop that they had ended their push for the Welshman, but then he said on Thursday that the Bluebirds had not given up on the idea of bringing the 52-year-old in to be Omer Riza's long-awaited successor.

Nathan Jones signs new Charlton Athletic deal

Their hopes have now been dashed, though, as Jones has signed fresh terms with Charlton. Richard Cawley had reported that he was expected to do so.

Jones, who had three years left on his old contract, admitted that he wanted to manage Cardiff one day, but the 52-year-old's new agreement with Charlton has put an end to that becoming reality in the near future.

Upon signing his five-year deal, the Welshman said: "I'm very proud and delighted. I still had three years left but for the club to come to me and want to continue that journey meant a lot to me because it's a club that I love.

"We've just taken one big step, but that's only one big step, we still have a long way to go to achieve our goals and I'm glad that I'll continue to work towards that."

He recently led them to promotion via the play-offs, where they beat fellow Londoners Leyton Orient 1-0 in the final at Wembley thanks to a free-kick from central defender Macaulay Gillesphey.

Production from his backline in both elements of the game is what ultimately steered the Addicks to success across the season. Gillesphey and his centre-half partner Lloyd Jones contributed eight goals between them in the regular season, as well as helping the Addicks keep 20 clean sheets.

Jones reportedly wants to add to his side's defensive strength this summer by bringing in former Charlton defender Akin Famewo from Sheffield Wednesday, according to The Star.

He has been offered a contract by his current club, but, now that he is into the final month of his deal with them, he is free to speak to other teams. Wednesday's current embargo also limits how many of the players that they offered new deals to can actually be signed.

Ultimately, Charlton's ability to keep the ball out the back of the net and get attacking returns from unlikely candidates was inspired by Jones. He completed his remit of getting the club back into the second tier, and he will be a massive help for them in their new division.

His work with Luton Town across two stints proves his ability to take an underdog side, which Charlton will be in a very competitive Championship next season, and exceed expectations. That type of manager is exactly what the doctor ordered for the Addicks.

Cardiff, however, will not be all-too-happy with this latest news. They had courted Jones and made a real effort to try and convince him to drop back down to League One, but have now been left to lick their wounds and will be considering other options, with midfielder Aaron Ramsey currently in contention to take the top job.

The appointment of Jones would have been an extremely popular one among the Bluebirds' fanbase, and many will be gutted that the Welshman is not returning to South Wales as Cardiff now find their search for a new permanent manager in its sixth week.