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Everton close in on Heitinga

Sunday, 30 August 2009

Everton boss David Moyes has confirmed the club have agreed a fee with Atletico Madrid for defender Johnny Heitinga.

The Toffees have offered £5million for the Dutchman, but Moyes admits there is still work to be done before the deal is finalised.

He said: "We have not as yet agreed personal terms.

"I hope we will be able to do that soon, but we have not as yet concluded that part of the move."

Moyes unveiled two new signings in today's 2-1 win over Wigan, with £5million acquisition Sylvain Distin and Russia winger Diniyar Bilyaletdinov both making their debuts.

Wigan led early in the second half through Paul Scharner before a Louis Saha header and Leighton Baines' stoppage-time penalty gave the Toffees their first league win of the season.

But it did not come without controversy, with Wiltshire referee Lee Probert under fire from Wigan boss Roberto Martinez.

Probert had been the fourth official at Old Trafford 24 hours earlier, and was instrumental in the incident that saw Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger sent to the stands during the Gunners' 2-1 defeat by Manchester United.

Since then the Premier League referees' chief Keith Hackett has said Wenger will get an apology for the incident.

Probert booked six Wigan players this afternoon and one from Everton.

Martinez said: "It is not ideal to have that referee, but my opinion is not important. I am sure Everton will be delighted.

"The performance of the referee is something we should put aside, but maybe they should give the referee some time and space and it wasn't ideal for him to be refereeing this game.

"With their penalty, Jo was very clever and he could see the tackle coming, he left his standing leg there for the contact. I am not sure just how much contact there was.

"That is not the reason we lost. There were a couple of decisions before that, little things that allowed Everton to maintain their momentum."

Moyes, understandably, had a different view of Emmerson Boyce's tackle on Jo in the third minute of stoppage time.

The Everton manager said: "We deserved to win that one, and I feel the penalty decision was correct. Jo's leg was clipped and he went down.

"For a while I felt we were not even going to get a point. Sometimes you do not get what you deserve.

"But I felt we controlled the first half and our play improved. Wigan were very competitive.

"When you lose a couple of games like they have, the first thing you do is to make sure things tighten up, and Wigan did that and made it difficult for us.

"That penalty decision could be key to the way our season goes. We could not afford to go into the international break without a victory."

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