Has Ryan Nyambe kicked on since leaving Blackburn Rovers? We take a look | OneFootball

Ryan Nyambe’s decision to leave Blackburn Rovers and join Championship new boys Wigan Athletic in the summer was a surprise to many.

The Ewood Park outfit had offered the right-back a new contract but terms could not be agreed between the two parties so the player left in search of a new opportunity.

Rovers were likely not expecting him to show up 20 miles down the road at the DW Stadium – particularly as he only penned a one-year deal with the Latics.

It seems as though it may have been the wrong time to leave Blackburn, who are third in the Championship after a strong start to Jon Dahl Tomasson’s tenure, but how is Nyambe getting on at Wigan?

We’ve examined whether he’s kicked on since leaving Rovers…

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Nyambe had established himself as a regular fixture in the team at Blackburn – amassing more than 200 appearances since he broke through in 2016/17 – and though he wasn’t quite as involved, he saw a fair few minutes in his initial months under Leam Richardson at the DW Stadium.

The 24-year-old featured in 10 of the Latics’ first 12 games after his arrival, starting six times, but has not featured since early October.

Nyambe’s absence was a surprise initially as he had started to build some momentum in a Wigan shirt and Richardson suggested there was optimism he wouldn’t be out for long but a knee issue meant he did not play again before the World Cup break.

That’s a shame for the player and the club because the right-back had found his feet ahead of the injury, which is reflected by his statistics.

According to Wyscout, Nyambe has won 76.6% of his defensive duels (averaging 7.97 per 90) in a Wigan shirt while he averages an impressive 5.1 interceptions and 9.46 ball recoveries per 90 as well as 2.61 clearances.

An aerial duel success rate of 48.4% is not bad for a full-back while he’s won more than half of the loose ball duels he’s been involved in this term.

Going forward he’s been less effective. While he gets forward well, averaging 1.62 progressive runs per 90 and completing 41.7% of his dribbles, Nyambe has provided just three shot assists and had only two touches in the opposition box all season.

He’s not linked up with his teammates in the final third well, connecting with just one cross all season and completing only 70.5% of his passes.

It would be hard to justify saying that the defender has kicked on since leaving Ewood Park but there were signs before his injury that he was beginning to settle in at Wigan.

With Richardson now gone and Kolo Toure at the helm, Nyambe has a new head coach to impress and when he’s back fit and firing will hope to play a significant role in helping the Latics avoid relegation.