Wigan Athletic are the latest Championship club to show an interest in Southampton striker Sam Gallagher, who looks set to leave the Saints this summer. The 23-year old barely played under Ralph Hasenhüttl last season, making only four league appearances in what would have been a frustrating time for the player.
Paul Cook’s side have money to spend following departures of players like Nick Powell, Callum McManaman and Darron Gibson this summer. After releasing James Vaughan on July 1st, who also appeared on the list of best goal scoring rates last season and losing Nick Powell to Stoke City, Wigan Athletic need to quickly replace him and Gallagher seems like a pretty good option.
Although Gallagher struggled to get ample appearances at Southampton last season having made just six appearances in total, his previous triumphs in the Championship suggest that he could be a valuable addition to Wigan’s current roster of players.
Whilst on loan at Blackburn Rovers two years ago, the striker fired in 11 goals for the club in the second-tier, a total which he will be confident of exceeding during the upcoming campaign if he does indeed move to the DW Stadium.
Under Paul cook’s mentoring and guidance, the very much traditional centre-forward who relies heavily on his aerial abilities as well as his sheer power could end up bullying opponents next season.
If Gallagher proves to be beneficial, Wigan will be in a fantastic position to better the 18th place finish they achieved during the 2018/19 campaign next May.
However, it is questionable how well he may be the club’s answer to the attacking issues. He only managed to score a mere total of 51 goals in 46 games last season and it is clear that they need a substantial improvement in their attacking department and should look at more worthier candidates.
Also, given that young English players tend to command premium prices in today’s market, Gallagher certainly won’t be let go for less monetary values by Southampton this summer. And he may, in fact, end up consuming Wigan’s transfer budget. One thing is for sure: Gallagher will not leave easily and will require a tempting sum to lure him away from the Saints.
However, there is believed to be a lot of interest from other clubs in the 6ft 4inch forward so the Latics will have to bat away competition to land him now that Blackburn Rovers and Brentford have also joined in the race for the Saints man’s signature.
