Club are still struggling to avoid the drop this season though.
Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan does not think that manager Roberto Martinez will leave the Latics to become the new Everton boss because the Merseyside outfit are too small a club for the Spaniard, reports the Daily Mirror.
Matinez, 39, has just guided Wigan to their first-ever trophy after the club caused one of the biggest upsets in the history of the FA Cup by beating big-spending Manchester City 1-0 in the final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
And now the popular Spaniard has been heavily linked with the vacant managerial job at Goodison Park following last week’s announcement that Everton coach David Moyes would be leaving the Toffees to become the new Manchester United trainer.
However, Martinez’s boss at the DW stadium does not feel that Everton are a big enough club to be able to lure Martinez away from Wigan this summer.
“Roberto is always in demand,” said Whelan. “But he deals with it. He tells me everything and he’s the most honest man you’ll ever meet.
“If anybody approaches him he comes to me and says such a club has approached me.
“Whenever he wants to go, I’ll release him immediately, but he’ll only go to a big, big club and I don’t think Everton are big enough.
“It’s Roberto’s decision. All I do is support him. If he comes to me and says ‘I want to go to whichever club’ I’ll say ‘okay’ and release him immediately because we have such a great working relationship.
“I don’t think he’ll go this season, but if he does I’ll shake his hand and wish him good luck because he’s been a brilliant manager for us.”
Martinez has been in charge of Wigan for four years now, after arriving from Swansea City, and he has managed to keep them in the Premier League during that period, although the club may now need to win their final two top-flight fixtures of the season in order to avoid the drop this time around.
