Wigan’s Euxton training ground believed to have been sold – are Preston North End the mystery buyer?

Sources close to the cash-strapped Latics have suggested that the club have sold the facility, with North End the winning bidder.

Wigan were placed into administration last month and were subsequently relegated from the Championship after incurring a 12-point penalty.

They are currently in the process of trying to find a new owner, while the administrators have been looking to sell many of the club’s assets to pay off debts.

Already a number of players from last season’s squad have been sold and it is believed their Euxton training ground, near Chorley, was identified as another saleable asset.

Wigan bought Euxton in February 2016 from Bolton Wanderers and that became the training base for the first team from the 2016-17 season onwards.

They also retained their old Christopher Park facility, which subsequently went on to house the club’s academy teams.

North End currently train at Springfields, in Lea, and earlier this year submitted plans to redevelop the site.

That was only to be an 
‘interim solution’ as the club has plans to build a brand new state-of-the-art facility in 
Ingol.

In the summer of 2017, North End were granted permission to build a new training facility on the site of the former Ingol Golf Club – land owned by Trevor Hemmings – together with a large housing development.

However, work is yet to start on building a new training ground.

And whether those plans will now be shelved in favour of a move to Euxton, remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, North End have been linked with a move for Latics forward Jamal Lowe, who is also thought to be interesting Swansea City and Millwall.

Last week, PNE poured cold water on speculation linking them with a move for another Wigan attacker Josh Windass.

North End played their second pre-season friendly yesterday when they travelled to Prenton Park to take on League Two outfit Transmere Rovers.

The game ended 1-1 with the visitors conceding a late equaliser after Tom Barkhuizen had put Alex Neil’s men ahead in the first half.

Their next match will have a slightly more competitive feel when they face Mansfield Town at Deepdale on Saturday in the Carabao Cup.

The fixture has been brought forward a week due to the international break which takes place early next month.