The former owners of English soccer club Birmingham City are in negotiations to take over Charlton Athletic, according to media reports, but would still prefer to buy West Ham United.

'David Sullivan and the Gold brothers are plotting to take over Charlton should they fail to negotiate an attractive deal for West Ham,' claims the Daily Mirror. 'Sullivan and David and Ralph Gold all want to own another football club after selling Birmingham City to Carson Yeung.'

The newspaper quoted a source as saying: "They are in on-going negotiations with a couple of clubs."

Charlton are currently second in League One, the third tier of English soccer, after a couple of years of rapid decline saw them relegated from both the Premier League and the Championship.

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In September, the club received an US$11.2 million investment from seven of its directors, with US$2.4 million earmarked for the purchase of its training ground.