Former West Brom, Sunderland and Luton Town man training with Wigan Athletic

Former West Brom winger Callum McManaman is back training at Wigan Athletic as he continues his hunt for a new club. The 31-year-old has been a free agent since parting company with League Two side Tranmere Rovers at the end of last season.

He first joined the Latics as a youngster back in 2007 from Everton and rose up through the youth ranks at the DW Stadium before breaking into their first-team. The Liverpudlian went on to score 17 goals in 109 games and helped the North West outfit win the FA Cup during his time there.

West Brom lured him away in January 2015 whilst they were in the Premier League. McManaman, who is an ex-England youth international, made 25 appearances for the Baggies in all competitions but didn’t manage to find the net. He was then loaned out from the Hawthorns to Sheffield Wednesday before leaving the Midlands permanently after just two years.

He is now back at Wigan temporarily and their boss Shaun Maloney has said, as per Wigan Today: “When I came in, and rang him in the first couple of days, I knew he’d been out of the game since leaving Tranmere last summer. I knew he’d played really well during his time in Australia at Melbourne, and of course he’s one of our own.

“I know Ben Watson gets most of the credit for the cup final, and rightly so, it was an amazing header. But one of the biggest reasons we won that game was the performance of Callum McManaman. That performance he produced at Wembley that day was as good as anything I’ve ever been a part of, in terms of one-v-one, individual performance.

“He’s come through our Academy, he’s one of our own, and anything I can do to help him get his career back on track, I definitely will. The least I, and the club, owe him is the chance to come and train with us, and give him any help we possibly can.”

Since cutting ties with West Brom, McManaman has also had spells at Sunderland, Luton Town and Melbourne Victory. Wigan take on Sheffield United away this afternoon.