Wigan reject big Blackburn bid for James McCarthy

Blackburn Rovers have had an €11 million bid for occasional Irish international James McCarthy rejected by Wigan Athletic.

Despite his tender age, the 20-year old has been one of the Latics’ star performers over the last two seasons and has attracted interest from some of the top clubs in England, with Liverpool reported to be particularly interested.

Having already signed Jordan Henderson and with Charlie Adam also on the way, Liverpool are unlikely to renew their interest in McCarthy this summer and, boosted by funds from the sale of Phil Jones to Manchester United, Blackburn are ready to pounce.

According to The Sun this morning, Wigan immediately rejected an €11 million bid from Blackburn, who may return with an improved bid for the classy midfielder.

McCarthy’s international future is the subject of some confusion at the moment after he was one of a group of players that failed to report for the Carling Nations Cup in May and subsequently missed the Euro 2012 qualifier victory over Macedonia and the friendly victory over Italy in Liege.

His relationship with moody Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni is a fragile one, but Ireland can ill-afford to be without players of McCarthy’s calibre and the majority of Ireland fans will hope that he is back on board for the crucial qualifying clashes with Slovakia and Russia in September.