N'Zogbia's impending departure sparks North-East interest

CHARLES N'Zogbia has been told he can leave Wigan Athletic with the Lancashire club's blessing after helping them retain their Premier League status last weekend. N'Zogbia's representatives have been given the green light to start discussing their client's future, sparking a flurry of activity from four Premier League clubs. Both Newcastle and Sunderland have been quick to confirm their interest in the Frenchman, who is likely to command a transfer fee of around £8m after a stellar end to the season that saw him score four goals in Wigan's last four matches. However, the North-East duo will not have things their own way as Premier League rivals Aston Villa and Everton are also understood to have expressed an interest in N'Zogbia. The 24-year-old was the subject of a dramatic late bid of around £10m from Newcastle on January's transfer-deadline day, and Magpies manager Alan Pardew remains a strong admirer of one of his club's former midfielders. Newcastle will be willing to offer N'Zogbia a significant increase on his current earnings at the DW Stadium, and while he left under something of a cloud in 2009, the left winger is willing to consider a return to Tyneside. Privately, however, sources close to N'Zogbia admit it might be easier for him to return to North-East with Sunderland, and Black Cats boss Steve Bruce is extremely keen to recruit a player he knows intimately from his own time at Wigan. Bruce has also failed with previous attempts to sign N'Zogbia, who is a close friend of Sunderland's Titus Bramble, but is hoping to hold formal discussions before the end of the month.

Source: Northern_Echo