Orlando City reportedly looking at Wigan Athletic’s James McClean
By Gavin Ewbank
The news of Kevin Molino’s torn ACL on Sunday sent Orlando City into a state of need. With the two-time USL MVP now done for the season, the Lions’ depth on the wing gets even thinner than it was before.
With it seemingly more and more likely that Adrian Heath will end the Brek Shea at left back experiment to make up for Molino’s loss in the midfield, finding a suitable replacement on the right wing is now a problem for Orlando City moving forward. Eric Avila figures to be the man for now, but who knows just how content Heath is on using Avila there for the rest of the season.
Outside options, you’d have to think, are on the mind of Heath and GM Paul McDonough at the moment, and on Monday we got a report of a possible transfer target:
Orlando after Wigan's James McClean?
— MLS Transfers (@MLSTransfers) May 4, 2015
The same account later credited an unnamed European source for the information, but we’ve heard nothing else since. With the current MLS transfer window set to close next Tuesday, May 12, the chances of his deal actually coming together seen slim.
Heath even told Paul Tenorio that it’s unlikely the team will get a deal done with anyone in time, suggesting the next transfer window during the summer is more likely.
So what about this McClean rumor?
Like I mentioned above, the chances of this happening within the next week don’t look great. But should they somehow be able to pull this off, it would be a pretty good recovery signing to fill the void left by Molino. The Lions don’t just need more depth, but they need a better replacement than, say, Avila or Tony Cascio.
Wigan could be ready to sell of the Republic of Ireland international after an abysmal season in the English Championship that’ll have them relegated to League One for next season.
McClean spent two seasons with Sunderland in the Premier League, where he scored 11 goals in 70 appearances, before moving to Wigan in 2013. On the international level, he has four goals in 25 caps for the Republic of Ireland.