Cherries: Mitchell relieved to see an end to Wiggins saga

01 July 2011 07:00
EDDIE Mitchell admitted he was relieved to see Rhoys Wiggins's transfer saga finally come to an end.[LNB] Wiggins last night joined Cherries' League One rivals Charlton Athletic on a three-year deal six months after handing in a transfer request at Dean Court.[LNB] Mitchell had already turned down at least two bids from the Addicks for the Welsh under-19 international, while Championship side Watford also had an offer declined earlier this summer.[LNB] The Hornets, though, did have a bid for the 23-year-old accepted by Mitchell late on Wednesday, before the Addicks jumped in and hijacked the deal last night.[LNB] Mitchell would not be drawn on the fee for Wiggins, but the Echo understands it could be in the region of £250,000.[LNB] The Cherries chief did insist there was little he could do to persuade the defender to stay, however, claiming the star was hell bent on a move.[LNB] Mitchell told the Echo: I'm quite relieved to be honest and I think Lee Bradbury and Steve Fletcher are too.[LNB] I'd like to think Rhoys will go on to better things, but his attitude towards the speed of my response to bids wasn't very good.[LNB] I didn't want to stand in his way of progress but I wasn't going to let him walk out of the club for nothing.[LNB] He phoned me about 15 times in two days regarding bids and I was getting texts and calls from his agent.[LNB] I think Rhoys has got to where he is because he is very determined and he wasn't going to let anything stand in his way of a move.[LNB] Lee saw this and so did Fletch and I think deep down they were pleased to see him go.[LNB] It was pretty evident that he wasn't going to play for us next season.[LNB] Mitchell declined to comment on information from Echo sources, which claimed he and Wiggins had clashed in a heated meeting held to discuss the player's future earlier this week.[LNB] The Cherries chairman added: Rhoys is a good player but we have things lined up so we don't want to be too despondent.[LNB] We've brought players in and we are going to bring more in. We won't settle with what we have because we want people fighting for places.[LNB] We have sold two players and brought in three with Steven Gregory, Mathieu Baudry and Darryl Flahavan signing. So, we are only one down after Danny Hollands's move.[LNB] Most of the big clubs won't let anyone out on loan until July so I would tell the supporters that July might spring a few surprises on that front as well.[LNB]

Source: Bournemouth_Echo