Wigan Athletic have confirmed the signing of Leo Graham on a one-year deal following the expiration of his contract with Bolton Wanderers, the club have officially confirmed.
The Latics have had a very unpredictable season, at times being dragged into a relegation dogfight as a result of the club’s eight-point deduction before the campaign commenced. However, Shaun Maloney’s side are now ten points clear of the drop zone and would be just eight off the top six had it not been for their punishment.
The young head coach has had to work with a group of relatively inexperienced players too. The average age of Wigan’s starting lineup in League One this season has been 24.2 while the oldest eleven Maloney fielded was merely 25.4.
In a campaign of uncertainty, the Scottish manager has had to lean heavily on young players to get results which has reaped its benefits so far as the side are close to mathematically ensuring survival in England’s third tier for another year.
Off the pitch, the club have set a policy of bringing highly-rated young players to the DW Stadium with the hopes of developing them into first-team players in the near future. Graham is just another example of this.
The 17-year-old joined Bolton Wanderers in the summer of 2022 but left the Toughsheet Community Stadium after his deal expired, having primarily played for the Trotters’ U19s. However, following a successful trial period with Wigan’s U21s, Graham has now signed for a year with the Greater Manchester club.
Speaking in a club statement, the Latics’ academy manager Jake Campbell was full of praise for the youngster:
“Leo is a talented attacking player, and we are delighted that he has chosen Wigan Athletic for the next stage of his football development,” he said.
“During his short time with us, he has shown a really positive attitude on and off the pitch towards building on his potential, and we’re really looking forward to seeing how he develops with us. I wish him every success at our Football Club.”
The attacker has already been named in the starting eleven as the U21s take on Barnsley at the Oakwell Training Ground this afternoon.
🗞 Your Latics U21s to take on Barnsley FC U21s this afternoon…
📲 Live match updates to follow at 3pm from Oakwell Training Ground. #wafc 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/VJTLnvKZfd
— Wigan Athletic (@LaticsOfficial) March 7, 2024
Writer’s View
Wigan have had some excellent academy players go on to have careers in the game, particularly in League One, with the likes of Portsmouth’s Callum Lang as well as first-team players such as Thelo Asgaard, Sam Tickle, Charlie Hughes, Callum McManaman and Baba Adeeko all coming through the ranks.
Nonetheless, Bolton Wanderers may be left disappointed that they failed to hold onto Graham in a few years if he manages to make it to Wigan’s first-team, but it looks like the correct move for the player to reach his potential at this moment.
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