Jewell plans January Tekke bid

Wigan Athletic will make another bid for the Turkey international striker Fatih Tekke when the transfer window opens, according to the player's agent.

The Wigan manager Paul Jewell has long tracked Tekke, missing out in the summer when Trabzonspor turned down a £2m offer. Jewell was told at the time that the player was not for sale as Trabzonspor officials feared a backlash from supporters if they let their star player leave.

Undaunted, Jewell has continued to watch Tekke, recently flying out to Turkey with the chairman and owner Dave Whelan, and now they are set to make a club record offer. With the current £3.1m record buy Henri Camara due to miss a month of action in January as he is on African Cup of Nations duty with Senegal, Jewell needs another quality forward.

However, Jewell could now face competition from the Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp as they have also made an enquiry. "Wigan have been watching Fatih for nearly a year now," said Tekke's agent, Ceylan Caliskan. "They made a really good offer in August, but it was turned down by Trabzonspor.

"But I didn't break contact with them and recently they came and watched Fatih play against Besiktas. They're going to make a new offer in January, but Portsmouth have also made enquiries."

Wigan are also rumoured to be interested in another Trabzonspor player, the midfielder Huseyin Cimsir.

The Norwich City manager Nigel Worthington has ruled out a January move for the Manchester City striker Robbie Fowler. The 30-year-old is down the pecking order at City but the Canaries manager insists there is no way he will be coming to Carrow Road, despite claims Fowler had been spotted in Norwich.

"Robbie has made his money and he is a wealthy chap. I am looking for hungry players," Worthington said. "Everyone seems to have been sighted in Norwich since I have been here. He might have been buying a house, who knows. I hear he has got 80 properties - maybe he wants 81."