Jermaine Pennant, having turned his back on the opportunity to join Real Madrid, is being lined up instead for a move to Wigan Athletic to fill the void left by Luis Antonio Valencia, who is poised to join the Spanish champions.

Juande Ramos, the Real coach, has been weighing up a number of Barclays Premier League players in his search for a new right winger, but having been priced out of a move for Ashley Young, of Aston Villa, and been put off by Pennant’s wage demands, it emerged last night that he is on course to complete a £14 million deal to bring Valencia to the Bernabéu shortly after the transfer window opens on Thursday.

Pennant, the Liverpool winger, has been accused in some quarters of blowing the opportunity of a lifetime, but as well as being unhappy at the personal terms on offer in Madrid, he was not convinced that he would play regularly for Real or that Ramos truly wanted him. Despite being restricted to only three Premier League appearances for Liverpool this season after falling out with Rafael Benítez, the manager, he is in no rush to leave, but Wigan hope to persuade him to move to the JJB Stadium for £2.5 million.

A complication is Liverpool’s determination to re-sign Emile Heskey, the Wigan forward, another player about to enter the final six months of his contract. Liverpool are confident that a deal for Heskey can be done, and whether the forward departs in January or in the summer, Steve Bruce, the Wigan manager, is already working on a deal to replace him with Hugo Rodallega, the Colombia striker who plays in Mexico for Necaxa.

Mike Ashley faces an immediate examination of his credibility as Newcastle United’s owner after renewing his commitment to the club, with Joe Kinnear warning that his first-team squad requires an overhaul in January. Kinnear was already searching for cover in both full-back positions, at centre half and in central midfield before the names of Habib Beye (knee) and Mark Viduka (groin) were added to a lengthy injury list, but Ashley has previously shown a marked reluctance to invest heavily in new players. While Shay Given and Michael Owen are attracting interest from elsewhere, losing such experience in return for a fee would surely be counter-productive.

As far as Kinnear is concerned, there is a pressing need for reinforcements. “We need to address that situation immediately,” the manager said. “If we want to go forward, we must strengthen.”