Wigan Athletic could be forced to sell young attacker Joe Gelhardt to cope with the financial problems brought about by football's current suspension, with the club's players and owners in dispute over the size of the wage deferral they are willing to take to cope with the situation, a report from The Sun has claimed.

With no income coming in from games as a result of the delay to the season, clubs are having to find other ways of keeping themselves financially stable, with a number of other teams agreeing to wage deferrals with members of their first-team squad.

According to the latest reports however, that is something that Wigan are finding hard to come to a consensus over.

It is thought that the club's Chinese owners are pushing for the squad to defer 50% of their wages, due to the fact their hotel and gambling investments have been hit hard by the current crisis, although the Latics players feel that that is too high an amount, and are pushing instead for a reduction to their salaries of around 25%.

One other way it has been suggested Wigan could cope with the current situation, is by selling a number of their young players, most notably Gelhardt.

The young attacker has enjoyed something of a breakthrough season with the first-team during the current campaign, making 15 league appearances and scoring a stunning first senior goal during a 2-2 draw with Hull.

That led to Gelhardt being handed a new long-term contract at the DW Stadium earlier this season, although that hasn't stopped rumours linking him with a move to the Premier League emerging.

Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United are among the clubs who have been credited with an interest in Gelhardt, while it has previously been reported that Everton director of football Marcel Brands is "desperate" to sign the attacker in the summer window.

The Verdict

This will undoubtedly be a concern for Wigan.

With very little precedent set for how clubs should be dealing with the current situation, it is hard to see just how the owners and players will be able to come to an agreement over what sort of a deferral they should take.

That of course puts pressure on them in other ways, such as with the transfer interest it will lead to in young players such as Gelhardt, who clearly has a bright future in the game when you look at his performances so far this season.

But while he is not someone they will want to lose, you feel it would at least be the lesser of two evils for the Latics, if it proves to be enough to raise the funds needed to keep the club afloat during the current situation.