Wigan accepts offer for N’Zogbia
Assuming I understand this news correctly, it appears as if Charles N’Zogbia is as good as gone.
Wigan announced today that they have accepted an offer from Birmingham for the transfer of the newly minted French international. All that stands between N’Zogbia and his new team is for the player to agree to a contract.
Birmingham revealed on Wednesday that they had presented a new offer for the 24-year-old midfielder, which was apparently less than they had offered earlier in the year. This prompted a bit of a scolding from Wigan manager Roberto Martinez.
‘We had a couple of offers in May and now the offer is less than the one we had in May and then they go public in the press. It doesn’t look serious to me.
‘The valuation is very clear. If the team matches it he can speak with them. Until that happens he is a Wigan Athletic player. The transfer window brings you that distraction but when you get other managers talking about your players, that is really disappointing – to unsettle players and the press with no substance behind it.”
I’m going to go ahead and assume this means Birmingham at least came close to Martinez’s asking price of about $12 million. Unfortunately, with so little time left in the transfer window, I’m also assuming it’s too late to put that money to use.
My expectations for following Wigan were mainly that the Latics would keep it interesting. With two blowout losses and now the loss of their best player, I suppose “interesting” is still a fair word to use. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much hope for “interesting” to turn into “intriguing.”
The Latics are still a young team, but they are definitely a less talented one. I have grown to have a fair amount of faith in Martinez’s ability to find hidden gems, but it’s hard for me to see how this particular move is going to be spun into a positive.
