Wigan Athletic: "Bright spark" tipped to leave in January | OneFootball

Football League World's Wigan Athletic fan pundit makes Chris Sze departure admission

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Wigan Athletic are struggling for consistency in League One, which is best displayed by the fact that they sit 17th in the League One table, just seven points above the relegation zone, but also a mere five points behind the top-half.

The Latics faithful will hope that Tuesday night's FA Cup victory over Mansfield Town, which handed them a fourth round tie with Premier League Fulham, will install some confidence in their squad, ahead of Saturday's third tier visit to Stevenage.

Meanwhile, Shaun Maloney and co have already overseen a busy January transfer window so far, having secured the additions of players such as young full-back Josh Robinson on a permanent deal from Arsenal, as well as striker Will Goodwin, who joined the Latics on loan from Oxford United, a move initially reported by Football League World.

But as well as acquiring some potentially exciting signings, the Tics have also witnessed departures this month, as striker Joe Hugill and full-back Calvin Ramsay were recalled from their loan spells by parent clubs Manchester United and Liverpool respectively, with the latter subsequently being deployed on loan once more to Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock.

Come the end of the window, the Greater Manchester side may well have facilitated the exits of more players, while FLW asked our Latics fan pundit, Corey Bissell, if he thought there was a player in the club's squad right now who will be really keen to move away from the Brick Community Stadium ahead of transfer deadline day on February 3rd.

Wigan Athletic fan pundit makes Chris Sze departure admission

Corey said: "When it comes to players that could leave the club, I think Chris Sze is on that list.

"I think he was a really bright spark in the academy, and we really expected him to kick on.

"He hasn't quite done that, he hasn't really nailed down a spot in the 18 in any matchday squads, really.

"A loan deal could do well for him, maybe in League Two, maybe in the National League to go and get some confidence, get some minutes under his belt and really develop as a player.

"Harry McHugh for similar reasons.

"I think he needs game time, but he's fighting more than Chris Sze, he's in the last six months of his contract, so he really needs to go out on loan, for me, get a load of minutes and really prove that he could be an asset to Wigan moving forward, and that we should offer him a new contract.

"And Luke Robinson, I think, could be a player that we potentially cash in on.

"At the moment, (with) our left-back options, the depth isn't really there, so I think it would hinge on us bringing in another left-back, but if that does happen, I can see Luke Robinson in the last six months of his contract, he's proven that he can play at a decent level, we could recoup a decent fee for him.

"I think he could leave, should we bring in another left-back."

A loan move could be good for Chris Sze

As alluded to by Corey, the Latics academy graduate has experienced a lack of game time for the League One club this term, so a loan move away from the club could be ideal for both his development and his confidence.

Sze was named in Maloney's starting lineup for the opening game of the third tier season, when his side suffered a 1-0 defeat to Charlton Athletic.

The attacker subsequently featured as a substitute during League One encounters with both Reading and Crawley Town in August, before he subsequently missed over two months of action, with Maloney revealing the 21-year-old's absence was due to 'personal, non-footballing reasons'.

Sze made his return to the Latics fold in November, but the only league game he has featured in since then was a 1-0 defeat to Huddersfield Town last month, in which he made a substitute appearance.

It appears clear that the academy product is not high up in Maloney's pecking order, so a loan move away from the club could be the best course of action for him to take.