Wigan agree Francis fee

Wigan have agreed a fee with Norwich for midfielder Damien Francis.

The Latics, who have been unsuccessful in their attempts to sign Sheffield United midfielder Phil Jagielka, have agreed a fee thought to be around £1m (€1.4m) for Canaries star Francis.

After seeing his side beat Macclesfield 4-0 in a friendly, Latics chief Paul Jewell confirmed to the club’s website, www.wiganlatics.co.uk: “We’ve agreed a fee with Norwich, and hopefully we can speak to the player on Monday and we’ll see if we can sort out a deal.”

Francis had looked likely to join Portsmouth but Wigan have moved quickly after being frustrated in the transfer market for much of the summer ahead of their debut Barclays Premiership season.

“He’s big, got an eye for goal, and we need competition all over the pitch, so hopefully we can get him and early next week we can tie up the deal,” added Jewell.

The Wigan manager was keen to stress it is not a done deal yet, however.

“If he comes – and it’s still a big if – then he will add competition to the centre of the team,” he added.