Wigan Deny Illegal Approach

It seems the left hand of Wigan is unaware of what the right hand is doing as they deny Birmingham's claims of an unofficial approach for Heskey.

Wigan Chairman Dave Whelan has laughed off suggestions by David Sullivan that Wigan are attempting to unsettle Emile Heskey and that their actions could be claimed to be an illegal approach.

The Blues have sent a written complaint to Wigan over the comments made by their assistant manager Chris Hutchings over the last week or so but Whelan, again going public, said:

'We always conduct our business according to the rules. At no time have we or will we ever approach a player illegally.

'When we make bids for players it is always going to be via the official channels.'

This smacks of the Chairman being unaware of the highly public comments made by Hutchings, such as:

'We are interested in Heskey....but we won't pay over the odds.'

Which can serve no other purpose than to unsettle Heskey and make Blues aware they are interested but not at the valuation they have on the player.

Sullivan has threatened to take further action if Hutchings continues with his comments:

'What has been said by Wigan amounts to an illegal approach.

'We have written to them to tell them what we think and we will take it further if they persist.

'So far we are being reasonable about it, but they are trying to unsettle our player and it's unacceptable.'

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