Chelsea Close in on Nigerian Star

Wigan Athletic have confirmed they have accepted a bid for midfielder Victor Moses from Chelsea and that the player has been allowed to speak formally to the London club. The Latics have also announced there were a total of five bids made for the player. Blues boss Roberto Di Matteo is an admirer of the Nigerian international's talents and has pushed for his transfer since early in this window.

"The club can confirm that after four unsuccessful bids from Chelsea for Victor Moses, a fifth bid has today finally met the valuation and terms set by Wigan Athletic and been accepted. The player has been given permission to speak with Chelsea," a statement on the club's official Web site indicated.

There is no official information on the agreed transfer valuation but a report by The Sun pegs the amount at £9m, which, incidentally, is the amount originally declared as acceptable by club chairman Dave Whelan.

"We all know when a top, top club wants a player, they just come in, match the valuation and take him. That's not been the case so there has been a real question mark over whether that interest was real. We hadn't had an offer which matches what the club wants - so all the rest is cheap talk," manager Roberto Martinez explained.

Cahill Happy with Win

Meanwhile, Chelsea centre back Gary Cahill has praised his side for the manner of their 4-2 win over Reading. The former Bolton Wanderers players scored the Blues' first goal of the game - to bring the European champions level after the Royals took a shock lead. Cahill explained after the match that he had always been confident of his team's determination and desire to win the match.

"It certainly felt as if we were pushing hard... you keep looking at the clock and time is ticking so it was great I managed to get the equaliser and I was confident we were going to go on from there. The first 10 to 15 minutes we dominated and it was disappointing that the game was turned on its head and we went 2-1 down, but the character we have in the squad meant I hoped it was a matter of time before we got back in front," Cahill said after the match.

The defender was also full of praise for new signing Eden Hazard. The £32m summer signing from Lille has hit the ground running at his new club and there is already talk of comparison with Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola and even Barcelona's Argentinean ace Lionel Messi. Cahill also reserved praise for under-fire Spanish striker Fernando Torres, who has now scored in back-to-back games after his goal in the season opener against Wigan.

"It is fantastic for Fernando because he has two goals now and is up and running. He has started the season well with goals and long may it continue. I also thought Eden Hazard was fantastic, really special. He did well against Wigan and I thought against Reading he was amazing," the 26 year old concluded.