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Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan has said that the Latics are interested in signing Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips. The out of favour Wright-Phillips will get more playing opportunities at the DW stadium, but his high wage demands might prove to be a sticking point.
Whelan hopes that the chance of playing under respected manager Roberto Martinez proves as a plus point and helps in facilitating a transfer, as does the player’s intentions of remaining in the north west of England.
The fee is believed to be somewhere on the region of 3 million pounds, which would be within Wigan’s budget. But Wright-Phillips’ wage demands of close to 60,000 pounds per week will be steep for Martinez’s men to muster up. Dave Whelan spoke to Goal.com and said-
“It’s true that we are interested in Shaun Wright-Phillips and I am sure that he would love it at Wigan because in Roberto Martinez we have a great manager,”
“But am I confident we can get him? Well confidence is something that you can’t have at this time of the year.
“We would certainly like him to come to Wigan but we don’t know what he wants in terms of wages. There is a long way to go, but Roberto does fancy bringing him to Wigan.”
Martinez has had a mixed time at Wigan; he has flirted with relegation during both the seasons he has been manager, but the playing style under him has been pleasing to the eye and Wigan are now a much more attractive outfit than the functional and drab one they were earlier.
Martinez wants to push forward and aim for a finish in mid-table this time, and he believes that procuring Wright-Phillips would help add quality to the side.
Speaking of quality, Dave Whelan also revealed that no formal bids had been made for want-away Wigan midfielder Charles N’Zogbia. The French winger has been one of their most promising players in recent years, and has been linked with many teams including Newcastle, Liverpool, Sunderland and Aston Villa. Similar to Wright-Phillips though, it is his wage demands of 65,000 pounds per week that has put the suitors off the market.
Whelan said-
“There has been quite a lot of interest in him but we have not yet had a bid for Charles,”
“He is in the last year of his contract and so I don’t know whether he will be here at the start of the season or not, but we would like him to stay.”
It remains to be seen whether Wright-Phillips and N’Zogbia move on to different pastures, or remain at their current clubs because of their wage demands. Stay tuned for more on both fronts.
