Wigan Athletic aiming to hold on to crown jewels

But with last season’s League One title success having alerted rival clubs of the quality at the DW Stadium, that will not be a straight-forward task.

Captain Sam Morsy, vice-captain Dan Burn, player of the year Nathan Byrne, Nick Powell and Max Power are just five of those who are out of contract next summer.

The ongoing takeover of the club by a Far East consortium is also muddying the waters, although Jackson – and chairman David Sharpe – have insisted it’s ‘business as usual’ in the meantime.

And the chief executive admits securing the futures of the high-profile quintet is a major priority with the new season just over three weeks away.

“It’s quite difficult to talk publicly about things like players’ contracts,” Jackson told the Wigan Post.

“I know it’s an area the supporters like to ask about, but at the same time it’s something that’s not always right to be discussed, because it creates speculation.

“What we do inside the football club is, within the budget, try and retain our players as much as we can, if they are deemed to be right for Wigan Athletic.

“Some of the players mentioned were excellent for us last season, and we would like them to continue being Wigan Athletic players of the future.

“We’ll do as much as we can to work towards that goal.”