Roberto Martinez was expected to meet Liverpool officials in Miami

  PICTURE: Getty Images  

Major move for Martinez to take over at Liverpool

THERE have been plenty of false alarms in the next Liverpool manager market, but Wigan chairman Dave Whelan last night gave the closest indication yet that Roberto Martinez may be Kenny Dalglish’s replacement at Anfield.

Hills reacted to the news by cutting the Latics boss to 4-7 to be the new man at the helm as Whelan revealed Martinez was due to meet Liverpool officials in Miami yesterday.

The club owners have made enquiries about a number of potential suitors in the last two weeks.

Ajax boss Frank de Boer turned down the opportunity to talk to them last week and reports suggest that John Henry and his colleagues will not be following up any interest in former Chelsea manager Andre Villa-Boas or ex-England boss Fabio Capello.

With former Barcelona manager Louis van Gaal reportedly uninterested in a director-of- football role, Martinez, who saved from relegation to the Champ-ionship, appears to be in the box seat and was hovering around odds-on on Betfair last night.

Villas-Boas was 5-1 with bet365, BetVictor and Paddy Power, while van Gaal was 7-1 with Ladbrokes and Hills.

Martinez remains 7-2 favourite with Betfred for the Aston Villa job, which he turned down last season before the appointment of Alex McLeish, while Norwich boss Paul Lambert is 5-1 with Paddy Power to fill the Villa Park vacancy.