Big Portsmouth favourite could be set for Championship as QPR, Bristol City, Preston North End and Coventry City line up for signature

But it appears former Blues favourite Jack Whamough may be bound for the Championship - despite his second-tier relegation with Wigan last term.

The Latics have once again found themselves in financial difficulties, but are hopeful those issues are behind them following their takeover by local billionaire Mike Danson.

But, according to reports, their recent failures to make player wage payments could be set to be seized upon by sides circling and ready to swoop for their talent.

Daily Telegraph reporter Mike McGrath has reported Whatmough could leave the DW Stadium on a free this summer - despite being contracted until the summer of 2025.

The Gosport lad signed a new deal in February, but is said to be attracting interest from the likes of QPR, Bristol City, Preston and Coventry among other sides.

Despite being hit with a winding-up petition by HMRC over an unpaid tax bill, Wigan appear to have found some relative stability with Danson stepping forward to pay creditors, players and staff. They will still start next season on minus eight points, however.

It remains to be seen how things will play out for Whatmough, who left his hometown club to move to the north west in 2021.

That decision paid off for the 26-year-old, as his side stormed to the League One title the following season and the centre-half was named the club’s player of the season.

That emphatically put the injury pain he suffered at Pompey to bed, with Whatmough proving fears about his ongoing fitness were unfounded as he made 50 appearances in the 2021-22 campaign amid a total 89 Wigan outings to date.

The academy graduate, of course, made his Blues debut as a 17-year-old in 2013 against Southend. Whatmough would go on to fight back from a string of knee problems to make 136 Pompey appearances - including the League Two promotion-winning victory at Notts County in 2017.

Pompey remain in the market for a central defender this summer, despite bringing in Conor Shaughnessy from Burton amid six signings to date.

Di’Shon Bernard is firmly on John Mouisnho’s radar, after impressing on loan from Manchester United last term. The Jamaica international is currently on duty at the Concacaf Gold Cup.