Exclusive: Why Don Goodman thinks Wigan Athletic have made "statement of intent" with Portsmouth transfer | OneFootball

Speaking exclusively with FLW, Don Goodman has been discussing Wigan's move to sign Portsmouth forward Christian Saydee.

Wigan Athletic have agreed a deal to sign striker Christian Saydee from Portsmouth for an undisclosed fee, beating off interest from Plymouth Argyle in the process.

The Portsmouth striker had been at Fratton Park for the previous two years, and was part of their team that won the League One title in 2023-24.

However, he only scored five league goals in his two seasons with Pompey, and is now headed for a new start, a division lower at Wigan Athletic.

The 23-year-old was understood to be at the top of Plymouth Argyle's Ryan Hardie replacement shortlist, but he has instead ended up at The Brick Community Stadium.

Don Goodman makes Wigan Athletic, Christian Saydee transfer claim

Football League World spoke exclusively to Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman about this move, and he was enthusiastic about it.

He told us that he considers this sign to be a sign of Wigan's ambition ahead of the new season: "Christian Saydee has been a very popular player at Portsmouth, so the fact that Wigan have managed to persuade him to join them is excellent for them," he told us.

"They beat off some competition as well, and maybe it's a statement of intent."

Goodman believes that regular first team football will benefit the player: "He's still only 23 years old. He's got quite a bit of experience, but he only started 10 league games for Portsmouth last season, and needs to play week-in-week-out.

"You get the feeling that if he does that, he will become a much more prolific striker than he already has in his career.

"I think Wigan have Callum Lang, his Portsmouth teammate, to thank for persuading him. It would be a great move and I believe he'll do well."

Wigan Athletic need a goalscorer for the 2025-26 season

Wigan Athletic certainly need a goalscorer, as they embark on another season in League One.

They finished the 2024-25 season in 15th place in the table, but the 40 goals they scored in their 46 League matches was the lowest tally in the entire division.

Whether Saydee is the answer to Wigan's goal-scoring problems remains to be seen, but there's little doubt that this was something of a coup for the Latics.

Not only is Saydee dropping a division to play for them next season, but they also beat off the ambitious Plymouth Argyle, who've only just been relegated from the Championship, to his signature too.

Saydee's 2024-25 season at Fratton Park was an interrupted one. He made 29 appearances for Portsmouth, but only one of these was a full 90 minutes, while he was used both as a striker and in an attacking midfield position.

But his minutes played tally for the season tells its own story; 1165 minutes spread over 29 games is an average of only 40 minutes per appearance.

A regular starting place in the Wigan first eleven could allow him to gain momentum and start increasing that goal tally. Wigan could certainly do with it too, considering their disappointing goals tally last time around.