Roberto Martinez rejects Aston Villa

Randy Lerner's search for Gerard Houllier's replacement goes on as Wigan manager decides to stay.

Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez has turned down the chance of taking over at Aston Villa.

An Aston Villa statement said Martinez, 37, had featured prominently on the club's shortlist of candidates to replace Gerard Houllier but had chosen instead to see out his contract with Wigan.

"Roberto met with his chairman [Dave Whelan] earlier this week and he made the decision to honour his commitment to Wigan," the Villa statement said.

Martinez is reported to have been offered a contract at twice the pay of his Wigan deal to move to Villa. Instead, he opted to repay the faith shown in him by Whelan, the Latics owner, who has signed him both as a player and manager.

"Roberto's staying and that's the great news," Whelan told Sky Sports yesterday.

"He's signing a new three-year contract. But to be honest, money is not what this has been about. I'm over the moon."

Villa had requested and been granted permission to approach Martinez after he emerged as the front-runner to take over at Villa Park ahead of former England boss Steve McClaren and ex-Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez.

"The club would like to thank Wigan Athletic Football Club and its chairman, Dave Whelan, for their professionalism in dealing with our request to speak to Roberto Martinez," Villa said.

"Roberto's qualities as a young and aspirational manager ensured him of a position high on our shortlist of potential new managers.

"Given that he had one year remaining on his contract at Wigan, we made an official approach through the proper channels, though we were aware of a commitment he had made to his club to agree and sign a new contract following the final game of last season.

"We remain focused and are working hard to secure the best candidate for Aston Villa who will complement the club's commitment to be true to our heritage, competitiveness and passionate fan base, and will have the new manager in place to prepare the players for the preseason programme and next season's campaign."