Wigan Athletic are in pole position to sign Crewe Alexandra’s French striker Mikael Mandron, according to reports.
The 6ft 3″ striker is being lined up as a replacement for the sidelined Charlie Wyke who remains out following a shocking cardiac event in training.
The Latics are chasing automatic promotion from the third-tier this season and are hoping to keep up the momentum of an excellent first half of the campaign.
With Wyke out, the priority is to land a replacement in January and according to Football Insider, Mandron could be that man. The former Sunderland trainee has been a good player during his time at Gresty Road, netting 11 league goals in 42 matches for the Railwaymen last season.
In fact, the 2020/21 campaign was Mandron’s most prolific of his career exceeding the 10 strikes he netted in 2017/18 when with Colchester.
The 27-year-old is unlikely to be a direct replacement for Charlie Wyke but he is a strong player who is able to hold the ball up and bring others into play. Just as a marker, Wyke has won 93 aerial duels in League One this season compared to Mandron’s 65.
With his contract set to expire in the summer, this is the ideal time for Wigan to land their target who has hit seven goals in 27 appearances in all competitions so far this season.
Wigan are currently on a seven-match unbeaten run and sit just four points off top spot in League One with three games in hand over Sunderland and two on Rotherham.