Wigan Athletic takeover falls through

The prospective takeover of Wigan Athletic by Leganes owner Felipe Moreno has fallen through.

The club's administrators announced they had ended negotiations with the bidder on Tuesday morning.

They said in a statement the bid had been reduced by almost 50% over the weekend and proceeding with it would have resulted in a 15-point deduction for the League One club.

Wigan are currently 22nd in the table, two points adrift of safety.

Moreno had initially been part of a Spanish consortium looking to buy the club before the English Football League rejected their application at the start of December because one of the group was subject to a disqualifying condition.

Moreno subsequently became the sole bidder and it had been hoped the deal would be completed at some point between Christmas and 1 January.

The Latics have been in administration since July 2020.

The 12-point deduction they received for entering administration saw them relegated from the Championship and they were then forced to sell the majority of the senior squad.

Manager Paul Cook left over the summer and his replacement John Sheridan also quit to take over at fellow third-tier strugglers Swindon Town.

The administrators, who are understood to still be looking for about £3m for the club, added they were "now starting to talk to other bidders who have expressed interest and will provide an update when there is any definite news".