Chairman Dave Whelan has made it clear that manager Roberto Martinez will not be tempted away from Wigan anytime soon.
Owner expects manager to eventually join one of Europe's top clubs
Chairman Dave Whelan has made it clear that manager Roberto Martinez will not be tempted away from Wigan anytime soon.
The Spaniard was linked with a move to Liverpool over the summer and met Reds owners Fenway Sports Group in America to discuss the vacancy at Anfield before missing out on the job to Swansea's Brendan Rodgers.
Whelan revealed Martinez will stick with the Latics for the foreseeable future after giving him his backing in the transfer market by bringing in Ivan Ramis from Real Mallorca and Ryo Miyaichi on a season-long loan deal from Arsenal.
And the owner admitted he can only see the 38-year-old leaving the DW Stadium for one of Europe's top clubs.
"From the day I took Roberto as the manager of Wigan, I have always said to Roberto that I do feel he will go to one of the big European clubs," Whelan told
Sky Sports News.
"I have always said that and I've also said to Roberto 'once a big enough club comes in for you I will never ever stand in your way'.
"He knows I would never stop him leaving for a big club, so hopefully the big clubs can leave him alone for another two or three years, but that's not for me to decide."
Aiming high
Whelan also believes there is no reason why the Lancashire outfit cannot break into the Premier League top 10 next season under the stewardship of Martinez.
"Roberto is happy here and all we want to do is to get Wigan in the top six or eight clubs in the land," he added.
"We both feel that we can do well in this league this year. The form and the style of play that we showed in the last two months of the last season I thought was absolutely outstanding.
"And it's the same team basically, so I'm sure they can play the same way and they're a determined bunch of lads here.
"We're a very happy and successful club. I love being here."
