Wigan Athletic FC

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• Founded:1932
• Manager:Roberto Martinez

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Rodallega earns work permit

12 Jan 2009 - 15:34:32

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Wigan Athletic have been successful in their bid to secure a work permit for Colombia striker Hugo Rodallega, who is set to join the Latics in a £4million deal from Necaxa.

The 23-year-old still needs to pass a medical to seal his move to England from Mexican football, but Latics boss Steve Bruce is happy that a major hurdle has been cleared.

He told the club's official website: "This is great news. The transfer is not finalised yet and the player will not be unveiled until it is, but this was the major stumbling block.

"We are never comfortable as a club talking about transfers before they are finalised, because so much can potentially happen to delay a move.

"However, we have made an exception in this case because the news is in the public domain. Hugo has yet to undergo a medical, but we are very optimistic about this going through, hopefully later this week.

"Like all our overseas transfers, we have worked very hard on this one. The club has sent delegations to South America to watch him and to discuss terms with club and player and we feel he can be a big success in England.

"He is strong and quick, with an eye for goal and if he is anything like the other South and Central American imports we have brought in to the club, we have netted another gem.

"I need to thank everyone behind the scenes at Wigan for the hard work they've put in on this one.

"We put together a really strong case and we're delighted we've got the green light to press ahead now and try and finalise the transfer."