no surprise if true.

Latics boss Roberto Martinez seals £2m deal to take Franco Di Santo to DW Stadium

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez has agreed a deal to sign Chelsea striker Franco Di Santo in a deal worth up to £2million.

Martinez had originally set up a move to bring Di Santo to Latics on loan but moved the goalposts yesterday and now plans to take him in a full-time swoop.

The Wigan chief has been forced to go for the permanent option as he has signed Manchester United’s Tom Cleverley on a temporary basis for his final available loan slot.

Martinez tried to turn Bolton keeper Ali Al-Habsi’s loan into a full-time switch but Wanderers want £3m for him.

Martinez has also agreed a deal with free agent Mexico World Cup striker Guillermo Franco – as revealed by Hotline last week – but he has yet to sort out terms.

The frustrated Wigan boss said: “The restrictions from the Premier League do not help young players in this country.

“You can bring in as many foreign loans as you want but only two from here. It is unfair on the clubs and the talent coming through.â€

Meanwhile, SWANSEA manager Brendan Rodgers hopes his Chelsea links will pay off by landing ex-Blues striker Frank Nouble on loan.

The arrival of Victor Obinna at West Ham means the 18-year-old will be surplus to requirements

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Wouldn't be a surprise atall and to be honest £2m is about as much as we could hope to get for him. You win some you lose some.

He may be able to do a job there, and to be perfectly honest he doesn't look like he'll ever be anything close to operating at Chelsea standard.

Good luck to him if this deal goes through.

I hoped he would turn out great, but he never really looked good enough.

But I never heard a bad word about him or from him, so I wish him the best of luck in the future. Maybe he can help his new team, though hopefully not against us.

Aw :( good luck to him

He may be able to do a job there, and to be perfectly honest he doesn't look like he'll ever be anything close to operating at Chelsea standard.

Good luck to him if this deal goes through.

Agree. I wish him all the best, but I've bever been impressed with him.

good luck in wigan

first team football should be easy to get for him up there,they may have got a fluke win yesterday but that team is still poor

A striker who rarely scores goals...maybe we can naturalise him and add him to the England squad!

He seemed to have the physical makeup but just couldn't hack it in the Prem. Maybe he should ply his trade in Spain instead.

from all accounts he was very prolific before chelsea and in the reserve league, just a shame he could never make the step up at the bridge. Best of luck to him in the future, by the looks of this wigan team they are going to need all the help they can get.

A shame, but it was obviously coming. Good luck to him there.

How much did Di Santo originally cost us?

A shame, but it was obviously coming. Good luck to him there.

How much did Di Santo originally cost us?

I think it was €4.5m

Can anybody remember if he was on the squad list? because he was then he's been removed also he's not on the reserves either.

Can anybody remember if he was on the squad list? because he was then he's been removed also he's not on the reserves either.

He's not on the squad list on the official site currently!

Shame, had high hopes for him from what I'd seen of him in the ressies.....thought he and Stoch were going to make the grade....shows what I know

This can now be removed from rumors. All confirmed , fee undisclosed.

Unlike others i was never convinced he looked any good or showed any potential.

In fact, he never actually scored for us did he ? Only one at Blackburn too i think.

However much we got for him, id say its a good deal.

Best of luck to him anyway.

Agreed bjd.

I wish him all the best however my gut feel is that he will struggle to hold down a regular place at Wigan over the course of the season.

Shame he left as I liked calling him the General, but thats pretty much the only reason. He really looked an exciting prospect, great first touch, quite quick, fairly strong, just seemed to be lacking in goal scoring. Pretty important to a striker that.

No player enjoyed winning the 2009 FA cup more than him. I'll miss him! Best of luck Franco.

no huge loss, he proved last season at blackburn he wasnt going to light up the premier league, cant see him doing it wigan either

bye Franco

Good luck to him, hopefully he can blossom there.

Does anybody know for sure if we got 2mill for him?

Good luck Franco!

Pob lwc!

Powodzenia!

Bonne chance!

I thought this was a loan...so yet again we sell a player for a fraction of what we payed...9 million pounds we payed,didnt play him much at all and then just get rid of him.

either way good luck to him,he was nothing special,just a waste of time really

Bit gutted to see him go, though its been obviously coming for a while, i hope he gets the chances and the right service that i dont think he had with us or Blackburn.