Wigan Athletic are apparently worried enough about other teams' (a list that includes Chelsea) interest in young winger Victor Moses that they're trying to convince him to hang around. Obviously, that doesn't involve ambition on Wigan's part - don't be silly - but it does, apparently, involve a lot more cash going his way.
We've made him a very good offer - involving a doubling of his wages - over the next three years. It's down to whether the lad himself listens to sense, or whether he listens to his agent. The player has to realise that it's his future we're talking about not his agent's. Agents want cash out of players, that's all, whereas we want the lad to realise his potential and reach the highest level he can. If we have to sell him, we will do so reluctantly - but not for the money that is currently on the table.
-Wigan chairman Dave Whelan. Source: Evening Standard via Sky Sports.
First of all, it's far from clear whether Wigan's offer to double Moses' wages will make the faintest bit of difference. I can't say for sure what he's currently on per week but I can pretty much guarantee that relative to an average Premier League player it's not a whole lot, even when doubled. Perhaps more interesting, however, is Whelan's acknowledgement that the club will 'have to; sell Moses if they can't sign him to an extension. This is slightly odd, because I don't think they do.
Moses is 21, which means that if he leaves on a free next summer Wigan would be due some significant compensation from whichever team does end up signing him. Whelan knows this, obviously. If Wigan keep Moses and then use him to keep them up next season, that's worth a lot more than selling him for peanuts in this window. But it's easy to interpret Whelan's comments as an invitation for a team to up their bid significantly, at which point he can make Moses the bad guy. Hrm.
I don't really see Moses as a first-choice starter at this point, but he's an alternative to Hulk out wide and I like him a lot as a player (much more than, say, Junior Hoillet). I'm not sure what the Blues are planning with him, but we do know that they've made a bid, so there's some interest there. It's a situation to keep our eyes on at least, because if Chelsea really want him, they can probably have him.