Wigan are locked in talks with Villarreal over Argentine striker Marco Ruben, skysports.com understands.
Ruben has been with Villarreal since 2008 when they paid River Plate more than Ј5million for his services.
Upon his arrival he was loaned out to Recreativo where he scored seven times.
He returned to Villarreal in the summer, but was transferred to their B side - who are playing in the Segunda Liga.
And Ruben has done well in Spain's second tier and is one of the top-scorers with nine goals.
Now Roberto Martinez has set his sights on the 23-year-old, who has one international cap to his name.
Martinez flew to Spain earlier this week and held talks with Villarreal - who are not wanting to sell Ruben as they rate him highly.
They have rebuffed any notion of him going on loan to England, and Wigan are now hoping a permanent deal can be struck - although Villarreal want to recoup their Ј5million and more for the player.
Ruben himself is believed to know of Wigan's interest and is keen to move to England, which could help Martinez's quest to prise him away from El Madrigal.
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