Exclusive: Wigan Athletic submit transfer bid to Brighton for ex-Barnsley player | OneFootball

Ryan Lowe is looking to add to his attacking options before Monday's transfer deadline

Wigan Athletic have submitted a transfer bid for a Brighton & Hove Albion attacker ahead of Monday's transfer deadline, Football League World has been exclusively informed.

The Latics are in dire straits in League One, sitting 19th in the standings and only outside of the relegation zone on goal difference, as Ryan Lowe looks to turn around the club's fortunes, having been backed by sporting director Gregor Rioch earlier this week.

Reinforcements are being eyed up ahead of the window slamming shut on Monday evening, and an offer has been submitted for a young Premier League forward, who could fire in the goals to keep the Greater Manchester outfit in the division.

Wigan Athletic submit transfer bid for Brighton forward Caylan Vickers

FLW understands that Wigan have made an offer for Brighton forward Caylan Vickers, who was recalled from a loan stint at Barnsley earlier on in the transfer window.

Vickers was recruited to Brighton's under-21 side in February 2024 from Reading, having made a first-team breakthrough for the Royals in the 2023-24 season.

After spending the final few months of 2024-25 in League One with Mansfield Town, where he scored twice in 19 appearances, Vickers joined Barnsley on a season-long loan in July 2025, with the 21-year-old notching four goal contributions from his 15 third tier outings.

The young attacker played the majority of his Barnsley games out on the right wing, but is also capable of operating as an attacking midfielder, a left-winger or as a centre-forward, having played a number of times in the latter role for Mansfield and Brighton's under-21's.

Now back at Brighton after his Tykes deal was cut short, Wigan are thought to be open to both a permanent or a loan swoop for Vickers' services, depending on what Brighton are keen to sanction - he's contracted at the AMEX Stadium until the summer of 2027.

Wigan manager Lowe sent Wrexham loanee Paul Mullin back to North Wales at the start of the transfer window, leaving a vacancy be filled within his attacking unit, which the acquisition of Huddersfield Town's Joe Taylor - broken exclusively by FLW - did.

With their form spiralling though, Wigan need more in multiple areas of the pitch before the transfer window slams shut, and they are attempting to turn to Vickers' services in a bid to add more of a creative spark in the final third.