Wigan Athletic‘s Joe Adams will face a lengthy spell on the sidelines after loan club Bradford City confirmed an injury to the 20-year-old.
The Latics sent the attacking midfielder on loan to West Yorkshire this season in a second straight spell to League Two. He had a strong end to last season with Morecambe, appearing 21 times and scoring three times.
He arrived at Valley Parade and featured in three games for Graham Alexander’s side, but was taken out during the game against AFC Wimbledon last weekend and subsequently substituted. The Bantams have since confirmed that he had ruptured his Anterior Cruciate Ligament, and would undergo an operation.
The injury essentially spells the end of his time at Bradford, who he joined on the 23rd of August. A statement from his parent club added he would return to Athletic to begin his rehabilitation.
Born on the Channel Island of Guernsey, Adams made the switch to England and played in the youth setup of National League side Eastleigh. Wigan brought the midfielder to Lancashire in 2022 and had his first taste of regular senior football with the Shrimps at the start of the year.
City manager Graham Alexander spoke about injuries in his press conference earlier this week, hinting that he may use the free-agent market in midfield due to injuries for Adams, Jamie Walker and Antoni Sarcevic. The Valley Parade club have been hard-hit by fitness issues causing a formation switch against The Dons due to only having two centre-backs available.
Shaun Maloney had previously used Adams in his pre-season camps and friendlies alongside the first team, scoring against Accrington Stanley in a 4-1 win. With Jensen Weir and Callum McManaman both capable of playing in the attacking midfield position for Wigan, his game time with the senior team this season would have been limited.
Writer’s View
Joe Adams was a player that Graham Alexander was excited to see come to Bradford City this season so to lose him after less than 20 minutes into his league debut will be a major blow. It will likely force a move into the free agent market due to the severity of the injury as the squad is threadbare at the moment in the midfield positions.
Wigan Athletic will hope to get him back ready for next season to get what was promising progress back on track. His spell at Morecambe was a promising one and if he can bounce back from this ACL injury he still could become a big part of the club’s fortunes in the future. At 20 he still has a lot of growth in him but missing a season will be a major blow to his development for now.