Wigan Athletic hero's future 'remains to be seen'

The Northern Ireland striker celebrated his 30th birthday by turning out for the Black Cats in pre-season action at Spennymoor on Saturday.

But after the game, Johnson confirmed the future of Grigg - who has one year left on his contract - is out of his hands.

"Whether Will stays remains to be seen," he said. "But he's here at the moment.

"We think he's a good player. We like him as a player.

"Obviously, that isn't always the key thing in terms of whether a player wants to stay or not."

Grigg was a target for Latics in January after being allowed out on loan by Sunderland.

However, with Latics still looking for a buyer at the time, he moved instead to another of his former clubs, MK Dons, and scored eight goals in the second half of the campaign.

“There will always be speculation about Will Grigg ” admitted Latics CEO Mal Brannigan recently.

But they would have to fight all the way with the Dons, whose manager Russell Martin is desperate to retain his services.

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