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07th Aug 2013

Looks like James McClean is on his way to Wigan

James McClean looks as if he will be doing his stuff in the Championship as opposed to the Premier League next season after Sunderland accepted a bid from Wigan for the Irish international.

Conor Heneghan

James McClean looks as if he will be doing his stuff in the Championship as opposed to the Premier League next season after Sunderland accepted a bid from Wigan for the Irish international.

McClean appeared to suffer from the dreaded second season syndrome with the Black Cats last season and if the constant speculation surrounding his future this summer is anything to go by, it seems as if he doesn’t feature too prominently in Paolo Di Canio’s plans going forward, particularly after the arrival of Emanuele Giaccherini from Juventus.

According to a report from Press Association today, Sunderland have accepted an undisclosed bid from Wigan for the Derry native, although reports suggest that the fee would be approximately £1.5 million, not a bad price for a man who lit up the Premier League in the second half of the 2011/12 campaign having been given plenty of opportunities to shine under Martin O’Neill.

Should he make the move from Premier League to Championship it would undoubtedly be a step down for McClean, but rather than being frozen out at Sunderland he should get plenty of first team football under Owen Coyle at the Latics and improve his prospects of returning to the Premier League and establishing himself as a regular in the Ireland starting XI.