Sky Sports reports that Norwich City are set to complete the signing of in-demand Wigan Athletic forward Yanic Wildschut. The 25-year-old submitted a transfer request at the DW Stadium yesterday, but the Canaries will soon conclude a £7million deal for the Dutchman.
Sky Bet Championship rivals Derby County had been hoping to complete a deal to take the tricky winger to Pride Park and were locked in negotiations yesterday. They, along with Norwich, saw initial offers turned down by Wigan, leading to Wildschut asking to officially leave the club. A deal is said to be hours away from completion.
Although Wildschut has only scored five goals this season, he is a certain creator of goals as well, and is a consistently high level performing in what has mainly been a struggling team. Interestingly, those five goals have come within his last 11 appearances, indicating he is hitting form at the right time of the season. The former Middlesbrough man was left on the bench by Warren Joyce on Sunday as the Latics crashed out of the Emirates FA Cup at the hands of Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United.
£7million would resemble very good business by chairman David Sharpe, who expressed his unhappiness with Wildschut via a statement on the official club website yesterday. The player signed a permanent deal from Middlesbrough this time last year and they’ll be making a significant gain on the amount they paid for him. Nevertheless, this is a huge blow to Wigan as Wildschut is undoubtedly one of their best player. He now swaps a relegation battle into Sky Bet League One for a play-off push into the Premier League.
