Martinez: Whelan convinced me to stay
Roberto Martinez has revealed that he was persuaded to stay at Wigan in the summer after hearing chairman Dave Whelan's vision for the future of the club.
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Martinez was a candidate for the Liverpool job after the sacking of Kenny Dalglish and was interviewed by owners Fenway Sports Group in America, but the Spaniard said in an ESPN interview that Whelan convinced him to extend his three-year stay at the DW Stadium.
He said: "The key for me is that the club has to have the same aims and ideas as me. Once I sat down with the chairman [of Wigan] and I heard what he wanted to do, it was clear we were going to get ready for the next chapter."
Martinez takes Wigan to Anfield on Saturday, visiting the club he could have been managing.
"Everything I did was in full view of the chairman and with his permission," he said of his meeting with John W Henry, Liverpool's principal owner. "In the summer, it was decided [that I would] take a bit of a breather.
"We had always spoken about how we would give it three years and then see, so it was the end of that period. That was the time I had to reflect and allow the chairman to reflect."
Martinez also spoke of his long-term plans at Wigan, adding: "You've got to work like you're going to be in charge of a club for 100 years, not just three."
