Wigan Athletic supporters will be puzzled and frustrated by Ligue 1 star’s exploits: View | OneFootball

Wigan Athletic signed former French Ligue 1 star Andy Delort from Tours on 1st September 2014, and hoped that the forward would bolster the Latics' attack.

Prior to his arrival at the DW Stadium, Delort had scored 24 goals in 36 Ligue 2 games during the 2013/14 season, so he arrived with the reputation of being a clinical goalscorer.

Latics fans were also optimistic ahead of the 2014/15 season, after reaching the 2013/14 Championship play-offs under Uwe Rosler's management.

The German was appointed as manager in December 2013, so he had to work with a mixture of players predominantly signed by former managers Roberto Martinez and Owen Coyle, who he managed to guide to the top-six.

Given the fact that Rosler was able to guide the Latics to a play-off spot without being able to recruit his own squad, the manager's summer recruitment in 2014 was a cause for optimism among the DW faithful.

However, many of the former Brentford manager's signings were unable to deliver in Wigan colours, while striker Delort came as a particular disappointment.

Delort's underwhelming stint with Latics

The former Algeria international made 11 appearances for the Greater Manchester side during the 2014/15 Championship campaign, but failed to make a single goal contribution, which came as an unwelcome surprise given his impressive Ligue 2 exploits.

After paying a reported fee of just shy of £3m for Delort's signature, the DW outfit had high hopes that the striker would be able to deliver in the second tier.

Despite the positive 2013/14 campaign, in which Rosler's men reached the FA Cup semi-final, Latics endured a tough start to life in the 2014/15 season, and by November 2014, the manager was sacked as his side sat 22nd in the Championship.

In January 2015, Delort was sent back on loan to Tours, following his poor showings at the DW, but he had clearly lacked the confidence he had shown during the previous season, as he scored just two league goals in 14 appearances.

But the forward clearly still had a strong reputation in France, as he left Wigan permanently for Caen, then of Ligue 1, ahead of the 2015/16 season.

Delort delivered a decent return of 12 goals in 36 top-flight games, which helped the side to a seventh place finish, just four points behind the Europa League qualification spots.

Latics fans will be frustrated by Delort's record in France

Following his season-long spell with Caen, the forward moved to Mexican giants Tigres, for the 2016/17 season, where he would struggle to make his mark as he made just 16 appearances and scored four goals in all competitions, and signe for Toulouse in January 2017.

Delort would take a while to rediscover the goal scoring touch he had found at Tours and Caen, as he scored just 10 goals in 51 appearances across both the latter half of the 2016/17 season, and the entirety of the 2017/18 campaign.

However, the former Latics man would find his form during a loan spell with Montpellier in 2018/19, as he scored 14 goals in 36 top-flight games helping the 2012 Ligue 1 champions to a sixth place finish.

Ironically, his then parent club Toulouse could have done with such goal-scoring exploits that season, as they finished 16th, just four points clear of the relegation places.

Delort would make his move to Montpellier permanent in July 2019, and went on to score 12 goals in all competitions from 31 appearances, with nine goals coming in 26 Ligue 1 outings during the 2019/20 campaign.

The following season, the forward produced his most eye-catching return in front of goal with 19 goals scored across all competitions, and an excellent record of 15 goals in 30 Ligue 1 appearances, which the ace complemented with nine assists.

Delort would once again prove his deadly eye for goal as he scored 16 goals, and provided teammates with two assists in the 2021/22 French top-flight season with Nice.

Latics fans will look at Delort's impressive goal-scoring record in France with disbelief, given just how poor he was during his tenure at the DW Stadium.

The argument could be made that with a firing striker on their side, the Latics would not have suffered their fate of relegation to League One at the end of the 2014/15 Championship campaign.