Wigan turn down Birmingham's £9m bid for Charles N'Zogbia

Birmingham City's protracted pursuit of Charles N'Zogbia looks about to end in failure after Wigan Athletic rejected their improved bid for the forward. Alex McLeish has been targeting N'Zogbia since the end of last season and the Birmingham manager had hoped the club's latest offer, which was believed to be close to £9m, would convince Wigan to sell. McLeish described the bid as "a big statement of our intentions", but Wigan are understood to have turned the offer down. McLeish said earlier in the day: "If this doesn't happen, we have to move on to our next target quickly." N'Zogbia was left out of Wigan's opening day defeat to Blackpool, fuelling speculation that he would leave the DW Stadium before the summer transfer window closes, but he started against Chelsea on Saturday and also featured as a second-half substitute against Hartlepool on Tuesday night. Sunderland are also interested in signing the 24-year-old.