N’Zogbia poised for Wigan departure

The French winger, who moved to the Latics in 2009 after falling out with the hierarchy of previous club Newcastle, has never hidden his desire to play at the highest level.

And with a long list of potential suitors including Liverpool, Sunderland and former club Newcastle reported to have made enquiries, Whelan believes it is only a matter of time before the 24-year-old moves elsewhere. 

"There is quite a lot of interest in Zoggy. He has said to me I've enjoyed my time at Wigan but I want to move on to other things," Whelan told the Wigan Evening Post.

"He's very proud now of playing for France again and he feels a bigger club would be better for him for selection for France, for which we have to agree and I've said we will not stand in his way.

"There have been plenty of enquiries but the season is still a bit away yet and the transfer market is only just beginning to kick in. They're all on holiday but we'll come together in a fortnight and sort it.

"If a player comes in saying he's unhappy playing for Wigan Athletic, I want to move - I'm not going to say you can't move. I'm going to say okay, we'll put you on the list, try and find you a club, as long as we get the right fee, we're going to let you go.

"If people want to employ someone, they should have the right to do that."

N’Zogbia recently broke his way into the France national team set-up, having enjoyed his most successful season in the Premier League last-term, netting nine goals in 35 appearances.

ByMatt Maltby

Nick Moore

Nick Moore is a freelance journalist based on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. He wrote his first FourFourTwo feature in 2001 about Gerard Houllier's cup-treble-winning Liverpool side, and has continued to ink his witty words for the mag ever since. Nick has produced FFT's 'Ask A Silly Question' interview for 16 years, once getting Peter Crouch to confess that he dreams about being a dwarf.