How Wigan Athletic and Sam Tickle feel about transfer speculation with ‘silly offer’ mooted

Add as preferred source on Google

As we head towards the transfer deadline, we can exclusively reveal how Wigan Athletic intend to keep hold of Sam Tickle despite interest from bigger teams.

Wigan Athletic have done some smart business this summer, bringing in attacking talent like Paul Mullin, Christian Saydee, and Dara Costelloe.

In terms of League One predictions, the Latics have well and truly made themselves an outside pick for promotion, with Ryan Lowe praised for his work behind the scenes since taking over.

However, goalkeeper Sam Tickle is so good that he’s attracting attention from clubs in the Championship and even the Premier League. So, can Wigan keep him?

• READ MORE: Reading and Lincoln City among clubs monitoring striker who’s ‘hungry’ for World Cup chance

Silly offer needed to snare Sam Tickle away from Wigan Athletic

EFL Analysis picked the brain of our transfer expert Graeme Bailey to get the lowdown on Tickle’s situation, including how the club feel and what the player wants to do amid all the speculation.

Bailey said: “I think Wigan are real dark horses. Ryan Lowe has really come in and made a massive impact. I don’t think they want to sell Tickle at all and I don’t think the player is pushing for it at the moment. I think they’re all pretty happy. They’ve got a good squad. But at League One level, if someone comes in with a silly offer, who knows?

“I think if someone came in, it’d be a loan back anyway. Especially if it’s a Premier League club coming in, they’d be loaning him back. So, I think Tickle will definitely finish the season with Wigan. Will he be a Wigan property? Maybe not. But, he’ll definitely stay with Wigan.”

Lowe himself has previously made his stance very clear on the idea of Tickle being sold, insisting he wouldn’t allow his star man to go and that it would take a ridiculous amount of money to change things.

• READ MORE: Wrexham curse lifted for Paul Mullin as Wigan Athletic star makes his mark against Liverpool

Sam Tickle stands out as the best goalkeeper in League One

We regard Tickle as one of the best players in League One, and he’s pretty much undisputed as the best goalkeeper in the division.

Last season, only Ryan Allsop and Arthur Okonkwo registered more clean sheets than Tickle. That’s impressive enough, but when you consider those two were playing for the top two teams in the league while Wigan ended up in 15th place.

Indeed, were it not for Tickle’s 18 clean sheets, it is very likely Wigan’s League One status would have been under threat. Now, this season, his efforts between the sticks will be key to the Latics pushing on and trying to clinch promotion.