Charlie Hughes departs Wigan Athletic.
Since joining Wigan Athletic as an Under 15, Charlie Hughes has thrived throughout his time in our Academy, going on to captain our first team and represent England at Under 20 level.
We all knew this day was coming, and it has arrived. Charlie Hughes has departed Wigan Athletic and returned to the Championship, joining Hull City.
Part One: The Academy Days
Part Two: The First Team Debut’s
Part Three: The 2023/24 Season
Part Four: The England Call-Ups
The Academy Days 🔵
The centre-back joined Wigan Athletic as an Under-15, after spending time at the Manchester City and Liverpool Academies. Hughes was unveiled as one of our new Under 18s in May 2020, alongside fellow teammates Chris Sze, Tom Watson, and Alfie Define, to name a few.
Hughes featured 14 times for our Under 18s in their 2020/21 Professional Development League North campaign, where they retained their National Champions status at the end of the season. For the 2021/22 campaign, Hughes was named as our Under 18s Captain and signed his first professional deal with the club in September 2021.
The First Team Debut’s 🌟
On January 25th 2022, Hughes made his Wigan Athletic first-team debut in our EFL Trophy victory over Arsenal U21s. He replaced the injured Tom Pearce in the 33rd minute, and helped Latics to a clean sheet with fellow Academy product, Divin Baningime, scoring the late winner.
Later that year on Boxing Day, Kolo Touré announced his starting lineup for our Championship encounter with Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium, which included Charlie Hughes.
Since that day, Hughes thrived within our first team setup and became one of the first names on the teamsheet.
Following our most recent ownership issues with late wage payments and breaches of contracts, Hughes had the opportunity to depart Wigan Athletic on a free last season. He did not, and chose to stay and fight for the badge to help Shaun Maloney keep Latics head above water. For that, Hughes will forever have my respect along with the other players and staff who did the same.
The 2023/24 Season 🫡
Last season was Hughes’ first full season as a senior player. He featured in 43 of our 46 league games and helped us to 19 wins, 10 draws, and 15 clean sheets. His 110th-minute goal vs Wycombe Wanderers was an incredible stand-out moment from the campaign.
Hughes proved to everyone that he is physical, determined, and ultimately good enough to operate at a senior level of football comfortably. 63% for ground duel wins, and 67% for aerial duel wins, put him in the same bracket for duel win percentages as Jason Kerr (27) and Charlie Goode (29) who are experienced senior professionals.
His best trait, however, has to be his ability to play a long ball. Over the entire League One campaign last season, Hughes attempted 560 long balls. Sean Clare attempted the second most with 137, then Matt Smith with 129. Hughes completed 249 (44%), which is almost what Clare and Smith attempted combined.
I have said it before, and I will say it again - Charlie Hughes could ping a ball to a fan in the crowd if he knew their seat number 🎯
In April 2024, Charlie Hughes was nominated for the Sky Bet League One Young Player of the Season 🏆. A worthy nomination for his efforts and consistency over the campaign.
The England Call-Ups 🏴
On November 10th 2023, Hughes received his first international call-up for England’s Euro Elite Squad, less than a year since his senior league debut. Hughes started their game against Italy U20s on November 16th, and joined the Germany U20s game in the 80th minute with the game at 2-2, helping England to score a late winner.
After not being called up for the March Internationals against Poland and Czechia, Hughes put in a superb performance against Blackpool a day after the England squad was released, captaining Latics to a 1-0 victory at the DW Stadium. This determination to prove himself is why clubs have been enquiring about what it will take to acquire his services.
Hughes’ phenomenal league campaign earned him his second England U20s call-up for the June 2024 friendlies against Sweden U20s and Ireland U21s 👏🏼
Against Sweden, Hughes replaced Jobe Bellingham in the 55th minute and helped England to a 2-1 victory. Against Ireland, Hughes started and featured for 65 minutes before being subbed off with England 2-1 up.
The Goodbye 🤝
So, there we have it. The last few years have seen Charlie Hughes make a brilliant rise from our Under 16s team to captaining our first team and representing England on the international stage.
A return to the Championship was always on the cards, and he now returns to that level wearing amber and black 🟠⚫️
Shaun Maloney spoke to BBC Radio Manchester, following our Carabao Cup tie against Barnsley, and confirmed that a bid had been accepted and Hughes was expected to sign the contracts the next day.
Maloney then confirmed that a majority percentage of the transfer fee will be injected into the club to help with our finances and plans, whilst a smaller percentage will be set aside for recruitment should the right profile of player be available during the summer transfer window. Watch this space.
Thank you for everything, Charlie! All the best in your career 🫡
Up the Tics 🔵⚪️
🙌 Thank you for reading!
✍🏼 Charlie Keegan / Central Wigan
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