Portsmouth and Wigan Athletic have sacked Chris Conn-Clarke

Altrincham director Rob Esteva has said Portsmouth and Wigan Athletic target Chris Conn-Clarke will not be sold below his value this summer.

The National League side face a battle to keep hold of the highly-rated striker in the next transfer window amid interest from the Football League.

Conn-Clarke, 22, is on the radar of Ipswich City, Portsmouth, Peterborough United and Mansfield Town, according to a report by FootballTransfers. Meanwhile, journalist Alan Nixon has claimed on Patreon that Wigan Athletic are fans.

Esteva told Radio Alty (after the Messenger message): “We have already received a few offers, but they have been turned down. The reality is we won’t let him go if teams don’t meet our valuation, and the offers we’ve had so far don’t come close.

“We’re not asking for crazy money, just a realistic assessment of his value based on the criteria of other players and the fact that Chris has outperformed many of them.”

Altrincham are holding firm and will only cash in on Conn-Clarke if his price is met, which it hasn’t been yet.

The former Northern Ireland youth international scored 22 goals in all competitions last term for Altrincham and helped them to the play-offs. However, they lost at the semi-final stage to eventual winners Bromley.

He is unlikely to remain with the North West outfit in non-league and will want to test himself at a higher level now.

He began his career with spells as a youth at Linfield and Glentoran before Burnley lured him to England in 2018.

Conn-Clarke spent three years on the cards at Turf Moor but did not play for the Clarets’ first team. Instead, he was loaned out to Chorley in the National League North to gain some experience before heading out the exit door permanently.

Fleetwood Town picked him up and he played five games for the Cod Army during his time there. He was sent to Waterford to get some game time before initially linking up with Altrincham on a temporary basis.

Alty took him for good last summer and he hasn’t looked back since.

What’s next?

Potential suitors such as Portsmouth and Wigan Athletic will have to live up to their assessment if they are to have any chance of landing him.

Pompey are preparing for life in the Championship and need to get their recruitment right. Meanwhile, Wigan Athletic still have a year left in League One.