Adams' hard work rewarded with new Wigan Athletic deal
Guernsey's Joe Adams has extended his contract at Wigan Athletic until the summer of 2025, the League One club has announced.
The nineteen-year-old, who spent the majority of his youth career playing for St Martin’s, joined the ‘Latics’ in February 2022 and has been a regular fixture in their under-21 side ever since.
He has also trained with the first team squad on numerous occasions in the last six months, and travelled on their pre-season tour to Hungary.
‘I am delighted Joe has extended his stay with us,’ said Wigan boss Shaun Maloney, in a statement issued by the club.
‘He’s a great character, who can play a number of different positions well.
‘I am really looking forward to helping him improve and develop as a player.’
The youngster initially moved over to the UK in pursuit of his pro dreams at the age of 16, joining Eastleigh’s academy programme in the summer of 2021.
He then joined non-league outfit Sholing, where he made 10 appearances, before eventually making his way to the DW Stadium to sign pro terms with Wigan.
The club had previously extended his initial year-and-a-half deal to keep him in Lancashire until 2024, until offering him a fresh contract this year.
‘We are so proud of him,’ said Joe’s dad, Ed, one of his coaches during his years in local football.
‘It’s all down to him and his hard work – he has progressed so much and has really settled at Wigan.
‘He also made the big step of leaving his host family to move in with four teammates, and I think that has helped him to really bond with the squad.
‘This new deal also gives him that bit of certainty that he needed.
‘He has been involved with the first team a lot, he played 45 minutes against a team in Hungary on their tour and played 60 minutes against Hearts.
‘Something else that has benefitted Joe is the way that Wigan have changed their approach – they were known for playing a lot of long-ball football but Shaun Maloney has come in and changed that.’
‘The new system is much more fluid, and Joe is a very versatile player who can play among pretty much any of the front six positions, so we hope that he can get some opportunities to impress.’
