Club confirm that Wilson Palacios has agreed terms with Tottenham Hotspur

The club have confirmed that Wilson Palacios has signed a deal with Tottenham Hotspur.

A fee has been agreed between the clubs and Palacios will become a Spurs player subject to him receiving a new work permit.

Manager Steve Bruce, who says the search to bring in 'at least one' quality replacement for Palacios is already well under way, revealed he did 'everything in his power' to try and convince the player to remain at the club.

"The club record transfer fee will be smashed if the deal goes through," he said, "but that was never mine or the club's motivation here. The club is not in the business of trying to make a profit on players. I want to build a winning team here and keep my best players together."

"We did everything we could as a club to keep Wilson. We sat down with him last week and offered him a very good new deal, and tried to convince him his interests were best served by staying here at Wigan Athletic.

"However, I'm a big believer in not standing in the way of players' careers, as long as the terms are right for our club and I wish him all the best.

"He has served the club well in short time with us and has been a credit to both himself and the club.

"It is no wonder we have some big clubs enquiring about our players because they have done very well this season.

"I always said that my biggest challenge this month was to keep the squad together, whilst trying to add to it at the same time. There are always tough decisions to make, but it's my job to make what I see as the right choices for the long term good of Wigan Athletic."

Palacios arrived from Honduran club Deportivo Olimpia in January 2008 and has played 37 times for Latics.

Meanwhile, the club are hoping to finalise the deal for Colombian international striker Hugo Rodallega later this week, when the player flies in from South America.