Former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips has told Football Insider that the Black Cats should offer Bailey Wright a new contract, amidst transfer interest from Wigan Athletic in the defender. 

As previously reported by football journalist Alan Nixon on Twitter, the Latics are said to be eyeing a move for the 28-year-old centre back, with their being confidence at the DW Stadium that a deal can be struck for the Australian.

Wright only signed for the North East outfit in August of last year and was a regular starter in Sky Bet League One last season as the club eventually lost out to Lincoln City in the play-off semi finals.

Now Phillips has stated that Sunderland must offer the defender a new contract to ward off interest from elsewhere as he said the following on the matter:

"I'd try to persuade him to stay at the club, even if that means giving him a new deal. It will be an interesting one to see what happens.

"If they can convince him to stay for another season and get him back to the form he showed before his injury, you’ve got a good solid centre-half there."

The former Bristol City and Preston North End man has featured for the Black Cats on 44 occasions so far and has become a key player at the Stadium of Light.

Wright is currently under contract with the third tier side until next summer.

The Verdict 

I certainly feel that this is something that Sunderland would be open to but as has been mentioned by Lee Johnson before, money is very tight in the North East at present.

The 28-year-old is still under contract for another year, so if Wigan are serious about signing him, they will need to stump up a fee that the Black Cats deem to be worthy of the experienced defender.

In all honesty I can't see him leaving but perhaps it will all boil down to money when push comes to shove.

Wright arguably only has one big move left in him at his age and it could be the case that he sees himself enjoying some of the best years of his career elsewhere after missing out on promotion last term.

Whatever happens, he won't come cheap for the Latics and I think they will need to pull out all the stops to get this deal done.