WIGAN chief Dave Whelan has warned a debt-laden Premier League club could go to the wall.

Reports today suggest the Premier League is planning to introduce a "going concern" test aimed at ensuring clubs are not burdened with dangerous levels of debt.

Whelan welcomed the suggestion but said he was planning to go further, saying: "It is my intention to get this club debt-free and I would encourage every other Premier League club to do the same if they can.

"There are teams in there that own three-quarters of a billion pounds. We have debts of about £15m now and I'm going to see if I can get that down to zero over the next 12 to 18 months."

Whelan also took a swipe at some of the top flight's bigger clubs for the amount of debt they have got themselves into by selling out to overseas owners.

"If you have a loan in a football club and that person decides to leave he wants his loan back - that makes that club bankrupt," he said.

"It is the same at Chelsea, United, Liverpool. There are a lot of clubs with a lot of debt as a loan instead of it being equity and shares in the company.

"What has happened for the last four or five years - with Manchester City being the latest - is foreign people have come in and poured in money in the form of a loan.

"If they sell that club or get fed up and walk away how are they going to get their money? They're going to put the club into receivership."

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