The FA Cup winning midfielder has revealed how Tom Huddlestone’s move to Birmingham City transpired.
Wigan Athletic manager Shaun Maloney says Tom Huddlestone’s departure to Birmingham City was an ’emotional’ one after his move to St Andrew’s was confirmed this week.
Blues announced on Wednesday that former Derby County and Spurs midfielder Huddlestone would be joining Chris Davies’ coaching staff as first-team assistant coach. Ashley Cole had recently departed the club for a full-time opportunity within the English FA, and a replacement was sought.
It transpired that Birmingham made an approach to Huddlestone last week having identified him as a good fit. The 37-year-old shared the news to Maloney prior to their game against Bristol Rovers, and then just a few days later, he was unveiled as one of the newest member’s of staff at St Andrew’s.
“It came out of the blue really,” said Maloney to Wigan Today.
“I spoke to Tom on the bus going down to Bristol Rovers on Friday, and he let me know they’d approached him. I’ve known Tom a long time, and this isn’t going to change the way I feel about him, and our relationship.”
The pair had only reunited in the summer after Huddlestone’s time at Manchester United a player-coach came to an end. Maloney was a former team-mate of Huddlestone during their time together at Hull City, which was almost a decade ago.
Maloney added: “I’m really sad to see him leaving us so early, he was incredibly popular with our players and staff. But the offer he received was just impossible for us to get anywhere close to…it was miles out of our reach.
“It was an incredible offer, and he said it would have had to be, because he didn’t want to leave us. It wasn’t something he searched out, it was something that came to him.
“I remain a big fan of Tom as a guy and as a coach, and he will be missed. It was quite emotional saying goodbye, even though he’d only been here for a couple of months.”
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