Peterborough United evidence shows Wigan Athletic's best summer transfer business: View | OneFootball

Wigan Athletic did exceptionally well to retain the services of Sam Tickle during the summer transfer window

Wigan Athletic endured a summer transfer window which saw several changes take place at the Brick Community Stadium, including the departure of academy graduate and former star defender Charlie Hughes.

But much to the surprise of many Latics supporters, the Greater Manchester outfit have not greatly missed the services of Hughes so far, as the Greater Manchester outfit maintained five consecutive clean sheets across September and early October, with a 4-0 victory over Bristol Rovers and a 3-0 win over Peterborough United coming either side of three back-to-back 0-0 draws.

While the Latics lost Hughes to Championship side Hull City in the summer, they did manage to retain the services of fellow homegrown starlet Sam Tickle, who has impressed throughout his time as Shaun Maloney's first choice goalkeeper.

As revealed by the Athletic, Premier League title contenders Arsenal were keen on signing Tickle in late August, but he chose to remain at the Brick Community Stadium as he was concerned about his game-time, according to the Sun.

Peterborough evidence shows Latics' best transfer business was retaining Tickle

The Gunners are not the only top-flight outfit who have expressed an interest in signing the 22-year-old, as Alan Nixon revealed last November that Everton were keeping tabs on the talented shot-stopper.

While the Latics signed promising youngsters during the summer transfer window, such as left-back Luke Chambers on loan from Liverpool, their best business was keeping Tickle at the club.

While new signing Will Aimson and Jason Kerr have performed well as a centre-half duo following Hughes' exit, Tickle has been instrumental towards the Latics' defensive efforts of late, and was particularly impressive during Tuesday night's victory over Peterborough.

Wigan opened the scoring against Posh on 11 minutes through Dale Taylor, while they can thank Tickle for the fact that they held a 1-0 lead as he denied Kwame Poku's effort from point-blank less than five minutes after Taylor's goal.

Had the away side equalised, they would have been the first side to score a League One goal against the Latics since Birmingham City in August, so it could have been a very different night but for the goalkeeper's heroics.

As per FotMob, Tickle made a further two saves for his side during a performance which earned him an impressive rating of 8.6/10.

Without the continued efforts of their shot-stopper, who made 26 saves in his first nine League One outings, it is evident that the Latics would not have maintained so many cleansheets so far this campaign.

Tickle will eventually leave Latics for a handsome fee

While the Greater Manchester outfit will be delighted that they managed to keep Tickle at the club over the course of the summer transfer window, he will eventually leave the club as his performances consistently suggest he is capable of playing in a higher division than League One.

The 22-year-old has once again been named in England's latest Under-21 squad alongside fellow goalkeepers James Beadle, on loan at Sheffield Wednesday from Brighton, and Burnley's James Trafford, which shows his class.

Courtesy of his international call-ups and previous interest from the likes of Arsenal and Everton, it is clear that Tickle will leave the Brick Community Stadium for a considerable transfer fee soon, while the Latics will be delighted that he continues to perform exceptionally well for them in League One.