Wigan Athletic frustration, Championship links reveal Carlisle United transfer masterstroke: View | OneFootball

The Blues have acquired a talent that is above their current level.

Key Takeaways

Carlisle United completed their 11th signing of the summer on Tuesday when they announced the arrival of former Wigan Athletic winger Jordan Jones.

Jones' name was one that was talked about in relation to a Carlisle move for a lot of the summer. After his former teammate, and now captain of the Blues, Charlie Wyke returned to Brunton Park, a social media exchange between the close friends suggested that the Northern Ireland international might link up with Wyke.

The pair had both left the Latics in the summer, but Jones eventually returned to the club, agreeing a short-term deal. However, after playing a few games for Shaun Maloney, he then left to pursue another opportunity, which looked likely to be Exeter City.

Wigan Today reported that he would be heading down to the south coast to link up with former Latics duo Gary Caldwell and David Perkins, but Carlisle and Paul Simpson were who he chose instead.

For Jones, personally, it's a move that sees him come much closer to home, having grown up in the Nort East. For Carlisle, the links that he had to other higher-ranked clubs, and the reaction of the Wigan supporters when he left, shows how much of a coup this is.

Carlisle United's Jordan Jones masterstroke transfer

Just under two weeks ago, at the time of writing, it was suggested that the 29-year-old was attracting interest from teams in the Championship. Maloney also stated that, before agreeing his short-term return to the DW Stadium, that the winger was set for a move abroad.

The fact that Carlisle - a League Two club - have acquired his services for three years shows how things have massively changed at Brunton Park. A player who was being courted by second-tier sides would rarely have, if ever, dropped down to United's level to play for them, but that is the exact scenario that has played out.

The response of supporters can also be very telling in these scenarios. A lot of the Wigan faithful weren't particularly pleased to see him go, both for the first and second time. That reaction from a League One fanbase should tell Blues supporters all they need to know about their new man. He is definitely a quality player.

Paul Simpson left with Jordan Jones selection headache

The Northern Irish international is the only out-and-out winger that the Cumbrians have acquired in this window. The manager has been seemingly insistent on his desire to play a 5-3-2 - a formation that does not involve the use of wingers, hence the seeming lack of a chase of them up until now.

This system instead relies on its wing-backs to create chances from wide areas. They are given a license to get up the pitch and cause havoc, even if there was little evidence of it in Carlisle's most recent outing against MK Dons.

With Jones now part of the squad, the plan surely has to be to somehow incorporate wide attackers into the system. A player of his ability shouldn't be shoe-horned into an unnatural slot in the squad purely for the sake of fitting him in.

If they do elect to go down this route, there's a chance that one, if not multiple, of Ben Williams, Archie Davies, or Dan Adu-Adjei will drop to the bench to make way for this new player and formation.