Wigan Athletic star linked with move to Blackburn Rovers

The 22-year-old got Latics' campaign up and running with the only goal - via a slight deflection - in Saturday's 1-0 victory over Crawley Town.

Prior to that, he had been the stand-out performer in pre-season with the bulk of his side's goals.

That form has reportedly caught the eye of Blackburn Rovers - against whom Aasgaard scored in a 1-1 friendly draw last month.

Respected journalist Alan Nixon says Rovers - with £9million to spend following the recent sale of star striker Sammie Szmodics to Ipswich Town - are hoping to bring in Aasgaard to boost their forward line.

Aasgaard only signed a new long-term contract with Latics last summer.

But given the perilous situation at the time – all of the players were able to hand in their notice and leave for free due to unpaid wages under the previous ownership – it remains to be seen how strong Latics’ position actually is.

A fee of £3.5million has been mooted, which would still represent a massive return on a player who came through the ranks at Wigan after being released by Liverpool.

The Norway Under-21 international has made 136 appearances for Latics, scoring 19 times.

After Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Crawley, Latics boss Shaun Maloney again highlighted his importance to the side.

"When I first came here, he was a real impact player off the bench in the Championship,” said Maloney.

"I set him a bit of a challenge last year...he didn't really want the No.10 shirt, but I kind of forced it upon him because he was out main player, our main creative player.

"Last year I thought he was excellent, playing either No.10 or that false 9, and he was brilliant during pre-season.

"He dropped his level last week, and I know it's not easy, because there's things he has to deal with.

"But I thought today he was brilliant, in a different way, without the ball...the effort he put in was outstanding.

"I love Thelo, I think he's a brilliant player, a brilliant guy, and today I saw the real Thelo.

" Now I need to see that every week..."