Championship side Plymouth Argyle have made an approach to Wigan Athletic for their goalkeeper Sam Tickle, seemingly moving on from the two targets identified yesterday. However, they face competition from an unnamed second tier rival for his signature.Â
Wayne Rooney’s side faced criticism from some fans following the sale of fan favourite Michael Cooper to Sheffield United, for what many described as a low fee without a suitable replacement.
Reports emerged yesterday that they were considering moves for either Bolton Wanderers number one Nathan Baxter or Blackpool’s 26-year-old shot stopper Daniel Grimshaw, but a third name has now been suggested by Football Insider; Wigan Athletic’s Sam Tickle.
The 22-year-old is a product of the Latic’s youth academy, taking the leap into first team contention last season. He made an impressive 46 appearances keeping 15 clean sheets as his side improved throughout the course of the campaign. He has played every available minute so far this season, as they suffered two defeats in the league and a loss on penalties to Barnsley in the EFL Cup.
Tickle signed a contract extension in May 2024, which extended his deal until Jun 2028 meaning a sizable fee may be required to secure his services, something which reportedly deterred Rooney’s side from Nathan Baxter.
No Plan for Plymouth Argyle?
Despite being approved by Plymouth Argyle and the transfer taking time to get over the line, it appears almost as though the transfer has come as a surprise to the Championship side. Often clubs have contingency plans in place should they lose a player and will start to act on those as soon as a deal is nearing. Lincoln City when they sold Lukas Jensen to Millwall had a new goalkeeper in the building within a few days as they just activated their back-up plan.
Rooney’s side appears disorganised and are seemingly just moving through League One number ones hoping to convince one of them to take the step up to the second tier, without being willing to pay the price to sign them.