Shaun Maloney comments indicate Wigan Athletic starlet can follow Thelo Aasgaard's footsteps: View | OneFootball

Wigan Athletic boss Shaun Maloney has heaped praise on Chris Sze who will hope to become a regular starter

Wigan Athletic recently returned from a warm weather training camp in Hungary, and started their pre-season fixtures with a bang on Saturday as they defeated Accrington Stanley 4-1 during a fixture in which Shaun Maloney changed the vast majority of his starting 11 at half-time in order to take a closer look at several squad members with less than a month to go until the new season.

Joe Adams, who spent the latter half of last campaign on loan at League Two outfit Morecambe, opened the scoring for the 'Tics who held a 1-0 lead at half-time.

Jimmy Knowles levelled the score for Stanley on the hour mark, but a goal from new signing Dion Rankine sandwiched in between Thelo Aasgaard's brace secured a 4-1 win for the Latics.

After the game, Latics boss Maloney was full of praise for academy graduate Chris Sze, who made 19 League One appearances last season but just two starts, and will be hoping to make more first team outings during the upcoming 2024/25 season.

Maloney comments are promising for Sze

During the second half of Latics' big win over Stanley, the 20-year-old's clever turn was a key part of the build up to his side's third goal, and impressed his manager.

Maloney told Wigan Today: "I thought Chris Sze was good, really good.

"When teams set up like that, you have to find space, and he's going to be a big player for us this year.

"It was actually a big year for him last year, breaking through into the squad for the first time.

"In the 18 months I've been here, he had a very difficult first three or four months, with the reserves.

"But we slowly but surely integrated him in, and there's going to come a moment when I'm not going to be able to hold him back, and he'll just take a shirt."

Sze can follow Aasgaard's footsteps

These comments from manager Maloney bode well for the starlet, who is yet to establish his best position in senior football, but was deployed as a striker during Latics' friendly fixture on Saturday.

Previously though, Sze has appeared in an attacking midfield role for the Brick Community Stadium outfit, and he can take inspiration from Aasgaard, who is Wigan's first choice in that role, and a fellow youth academy product, who has gone on to become a key player for the men in blue and white at League One level, while he also produced real moments of quality during the 2022/23 Championship season including an impressive last minute winner against Luton Town back in September 2022.

Aasgaard has put a blueprint in place for the likes of Sze to follow, as the Norway youth international has proven it is possible to become a mainstay in the Latics attack in the senior game, having previously occupied the same role at academy level.

Meanwhile, centre-half Charlie Hughes and goalkeeper Sam Tickle, who both play for England at youth international level, epitomise the strength of the 'Tics academy.

Sze will hope to become the next youth academy graduate to make his mark on first team football for Maloney's men.

Sze could save Latics money in the transfer market

Currently, the Latics' only out-and-out striker in the senior squad is Josh Stones, who is only 20 and has had limited playing opportunities in League One.

Maloney and co must undoubtedly sign at least one striker this summer, but Stones' fellow youngster Sze could ensure that his club don't have to buy more than that in the attacking department if he lives up to his manager's encouraging praise.