What Wigan Athletic would look under Felipe Moreno - the expert view from Spain

“Felipe Moreno was born down in the south of Spain, in Cordoba. That means he’s Andalusian, who tend to be colourful, noisy, passionate, interesting...and Felipe is certainly all of that!

“Leganes is a suburb of Madrid, but it has its own name, its own individuality. I suppose if you were to take London to be Madrid, Leganes could be...Wimbledon, vaguely yes.

“Geographically it’s part of the city, but totally different in terms of its identity. Leganes, however, is nothing like SW19!

“There’s a lot of industry around there, and their principal product is cucumber growing. Which is why the club’s mascot is a cucumber, and they’re nicknamed ‘Los Pepineros’ – the ‘Cucumber Farmers’.

“Felipe made himself a successful businessman through the hospitality industry, and real estate. But he’s an entrepreneur as well as a businessman.

“He had projects and opened businesses in Brazil in the lead-up to the World Cup and the Olympics, and did well out of that.

“His wife (Victoria Pavon) is the President of Leganes, and they bought the club kind of on a whim.

“Felipe had moved to Leganes with his family when he was a little kid, maybe seven or eight. He became a fan of Leganes, he and his wife brought his boys up to be Leganes supporters, and they are now mega fans.

“When the boys were late teens, early 20s, they said to their parents: ‘Why don’t we buy the club?’ And the two of them did just that!

“He’s been a remarkable owner for Leganes, who had never been in the Premiera Division before they arrived.

“Not only did they reach the top division for the first time in their history, they also knocked Real Madrid out of the Spanish Cup.

“It was this defeat that (Zinedine) Zidane quoted when he quit as Real Madrid coach, just after winning the Champions League final in Kiev against Liverpool.

“Leganes play good football, and he’s also put them on a sound financial footing since taking over. Before he took over, they were in debt, they couldn’t afford the salaries of the players.

“He totally sanitised the finances, putting in a lot of loan money, making them a good, sound business again. Certainly while they were in the top division, they were making profits, and they had a very healthy bank balance.

“They’ve made major renovations to their training ground and the stadium, even though that is owned by the Council.

“He’s extremely confident, he’s a risk taker, he’s very much ‘front foot’... and he’s a very good guy to work for as far as managers and players are concerned, not afraid to give interviews.

"Overall he’s an impressive guy, and he’s transformed Leganes into a very admirable club. As well as getting into La Liga, they also got to the semi-final of the Spanish Cup, where they fought tooth and nail and only just missed out on a place in the final.

“If Wigan were to get this guy in, I would imagine similar ideas would be in his head about making the club financially stable, making it more modern looking.

“He’s in his early 60s, but still full of energy, a very big, forceful man. And really what he has done in Spain with Leganes has been admirable. If he gets the go-ahead from the EFL... (Jose Miguel) Garrido brought him in and then failed the test, but it looks as though Moreno’s said: ‘I’m here, I’m staying, I’m going to buy in anyway’!

“Don’t ask me about the business side, and whether he has the money to do it. I’m only interested in the football side.

“If he takes over, I would think there’s a reasonable chance he’d bring in a Spanish coach. It’s not an outright guarantee, but there’s a good possibility.

“And on the whole... I think you’ll probably enjoy it...”

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