Wigan boss says his side are not interested in selling anybody as reports link Brighton with Powell

The 23-year-old former Manchester United player starred in Wigan's 2-0 FA Cup win against West Ham on Saturday and pundits suggested he should be playing at a higher level than League One.

Speaking to our sister paper, the Wigan Post, Cook said: "There’s so many phone-calls in football now – between not just managers but also agents - you can’t say for sure whether there’s anything going on.

“All I can say is we don’t want to sell anybody, we’re not interested in selling anybody.

“But you can’t ever say that you won’t.

“As far as we’re concerned, it’s all about getting to Wednesday night, hopefully with our squad intact.

“And then we can fully concentrate on achieving what we set out to at the start of the season.”

Rather than view the situation negatively, Cook insists it’s only natural the vultures should be circling his League One leaders. “Our lads deserve to have interest in them,” acknowledged the Latics boss.

“If you continue to play like our lads are, why wouldn’t there be interest? “I mean, Nick Powell, come on...he was exceptionally good on Saturday.

“But as a group, we’re very happy at the moment.

“If someone has to leave - and people do leave football clubs, that’s life – we’d wish them well.

“All you can do is concentrate on the players still at the football club.

“With the finances involved these days, we can all appreciate players’ lives can change by moving upwards.”

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