Baggies accept Roberts bids

By Paul Higham  

Baggies accept Roberts bids

Related links

Teams

Players

WEST BROM have accepted a £2.25 million bid from Wigan Athletic for Jason Roberts, but have also accepted a season-long loan deal from Leicester City for the unsettled striker.

The 25-year-old handed in a transfer request in July following The Baggies suffering relegation to Division One, and has not played for Gary Megson's side this season.

Megson has accepted that the former Bristol Rovers marksman will leave The Hawthorns, but the club had struggled to find a buyer willing to match their asking price.

Paul Jewell's Latics have now come up with a suitable bid after eyeing him all summer, with £2 million being offered up front with a further £225,000 should they gain promotion by in the next two years.

West Brom are keen to get Roberts a new club before the transfer window closes on Monday and have accepted a back-up loan offer from Leicester City.

The Baggies would much rather cash-in on Roberts now but realise he may prefer a move back into the top-flight so have given him the choice by accepting the two bids.

"I'm disappointed it's come to this because I thought Jason would be a big asset in the First Division," Megson told the club website.

"But he's made it clear he doesn't want to stay at West Brom so we have to move on.

"It's up to Jason which club he joins and we wish him all the best at whichever one he chooses."

Chairman Jeremy Peace added that the club were keen to sell him, but that Micky Adams's Foxes had come up with a suitable package to persuade them to agree to a season-long loan.

"We reluctantly accepted Jason's transfer request on Thursday, July 3. We have fully explored all our options since and Wigan are the only club to have produced an offer the board finds acceptable," added Peace.

"However, should Jason feel on footballing grounds he doesn't want to go there, we have also accepted a season-long loan offer from Leicester City.

"Although loaning Jason out was never our preference, this way he would get Premiership football while we would be suitably recompensed as Leicester have matched the terms we proposed."

Roberts must now decide on his destination and must choose between Premiership newcomers Leicester who will likely be in the same relegation scrap as West Brom last term, or with the ambitious Wigan side.