Ecuadorian turns down Real Madrid and club close to sealing N'Zogbia deal

By Paul Chialton

With so much activity in the transfer market, injuries to key players and not to mention an exceedingly difficult fixture list, Steve Bruce will no doubt be happy to get the month of January out of the way.

But speaking after Wigan's game at Aston Villa, he did have some good news with regards the imminent arrival of Charles N'Zogbia and the future of Antonio Valencia:

"The big news I can tell you is that Valencia has turned down the move to Real Madrid last night.

"He's decided to stay until the end of the season which is great news for us. There was no fee agreed but the boy said that he wants to stay on at least until the end of the season and see how things develop in that time.

"January has been a really difficult month. The loss of Emile and Palacios, and the injuries to Valencia and Zaki mean we were nearly down to half a team and the last thing you wan to do in January is rebuild a squad.

"But were pleased in who we've brought in and we also hope to seal the N'Zogbia deal soon.

"He has just the profile we want at the club. He's only 22 and we hope he can come and enjoy his football with us.

"We've agreed a few with Newcastle and part of that deal is that Ryan Taylor will go the other way.

"There's still a few details to sort out first but we spoke to him last night and he seemed very pleased with what we've offered to him. If we get him and then get Valencia back then it will look good for us.

"We've also brought in Ben Watson and Hugo Rodallega who are young and gifted too, so were happy with what we've done."