Palacios: Highly-rated

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Steve Bruce has warned it would take 'an amazing offer' for him to part with Wilson Palacios.

The Honduras international's star continues to rise, leading to the inevitable admiring glances from other clubs.

He is a midfielder equally adept at putting in bone-crunching tackles as he is spraying 60-yard passes.

That undoubted quality saw him strongly linked with a move to Manchester United last season, but his manager is adamant that the 24-year-old should not start packing his bags just yet.

Unfashionable

"We are always going to be seen as little unfashionable Wigan but I know I have some really good players," he told the Wigan Evening Post.

"We have done very well to tie up some of our best players to long-term deals, especially Wilson Palacios. Wilson has the ability to go to the top.

"Last season he was linked with Manchester United - I don't know if there was interest, but it was speculated on because of my past links.

"We worked hard to tie him down and sign a new contract.

"He knows this year is a big one for him and it is going to be hard.

"But he wanted to stay here and it would take an amazing offer to get him off us bearing in mind some of the fees being paid out for some players at the moment."

Frustrated

Bruce saw Palacios put in a commanding display during the Latics' opening game of the new season, but still saw his troops slip to a disappointing 2-1 defeat at West Ham.

"Frustrated is an under-statement," he added.

"They call Upton Park the Academy of Football - that is what the sign says anyway as you walk on to the pitch.

"We gave West Ham a doing in their own back yard, yet came away beaten.

"But it was our defending early on which clouded the day for me.

"We were fantastic defensively last season, that is what kept us in the division.

"But for some reason on Saturday, individually and collectively, we didn't live up to those standards.

"We left ourselves with an uphill battle after going 2-0 down, although it was a battle we very nearly got something from and arguably deserved to."