The Wigan athletic manager Roberto Martinez has said that he is extremely confident that the club will not be forced into selling the star assets like Franco di Santo, who is out of contract in the summer. The former Chelsea striker joined the club for a relatively low transfer fee, but he has improved hugely under the guidance of the manager Roberto Martinez. This has even led to the call-up to the Argentine national team in the recent friendly match against Saudi Arabia. As a result, he has been linked with many big clubs in Europe.
Martinez, though, has said that he hopes that the striker signs new contract with Wigan and does not get carried away with all the hype surrounding the international call-up. Martinez has also revealed that he has spoken with the player about the possibility of signing a new contract. He is also confident that the club will be able to refrain from selling him during the January transfer window. There is a suggestion that Wigan will be tempted into selling him rather than lose him for nothing in the January window. The club has already lost the services of the Nigerian winger Victor Moses during the summer. Moses was extremely crucial in getting them out of relegation trouble last season.
“It’s not going to be a financial decision. I can guarantee that we’re not going to try and cash in early. We showed last season that if we feel a player can give us something we’ll keep him, even if he can walk on a free. To replace a player who can score 10 or 15 goals in the Premier League you’ve got to talk about £10million, so if you haven’t got that sort of figure it would be foolish for us just to try and get a bit of money,” said Martinez.