Martinez rejects Villa approach

Soccer:Roberto Martinez has opted to remain as manager of Wigan Athletic following an approach from Aston Villa. The Spaniard had become the favourite to succeed Gerard Houllier at Villa Park but has chosen to sign a new contract at the DW Stadium.

Martinez, 37, has established a reputation for attractive football during two years in charge at Wigan and in an earlier, promotion-winning stint at Swansea.

He also spoke often of his commitment to Latics’ and their youthful squad during the recently-concluded campaign, which saw Wigan escape relegation from the Premier League only on the final day.

Villa started to court him earlier this week after their interest in Steve McClaren and Rafael Benitez cooled and they were given permission to speak to him by Wigan chairman Dave Whelan.

“Roberto met with his chairman earlier this week and he made the decision to honour his commitment to Wigan,” Villa announced in a statement. “The club would like to thank Wigan Athletic Football Club and its chairman, Dave Whelan, for their professionalism in dealing with our request to speak to Roberto Martinez.

“Roberto’s qualities as a young and aspirational manager ensured him of a position high on our shortlist of potential new managers. Given that he had one year remaining on his contract at Wigan, we made an official approach through the proper channels, though we were aware of a commitment he had made to his club to agree and sign a new contract following the final game of last season.

“Roberto met with his chairman earlier this week and he has made the decision to honour his commitment to Wigan. Therefore, we have not met Roberto and we have not had the opportunity to discuss the vacant managerial role with him.”

Whelan has already admitted he expects Martinez to move on to a bigger club in future but the offer of a new deal has persuaded him to stay loyal. The pair also have a good relationship dating back to when Whelan signed Martinez as a player in 1995.