League One side Wigan Athletic have been busy in the forward market this week and are now turning their attention towards League Two’s top goalscorer Michael Cheek.
The 33-year-old scored 25 goals in the fourth tier last season for promoted Bromley in his first career outing in the EFL and is now a target for the Latics as they aim for improvements in the final third under former Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe.
Cheek was a clinical scorer in non-league for many years before achieving promotion to League Two with the Ravens in 2024, and he may now be given his first chance at third-tier football, as reported by Football League World.
Latics continues striker activity in the transfer market
Head coach Lowe is overseeing his first transfer window in charge of the Latics following his appointment in March and has made it clear that the forward position is one he is targeting strongly.
Portsmouth striker Christian Saydee has already joined for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal and Wrexham forward Paul Mullin is reportedly in talks with the former FA Cup winners over a loan move.
The club’s focus in attacking areas comes after they finished the 2024/25 campaign as League One’s lowest scorers, hitting the back of the net just 40 times in 46 matches, as they ended the season 15th in the table, 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
Their two top scorers Dale Taylor and Thelo Aasgaard, who scored 11 and eight league goals respectively, will both not be at the club next year, with the former having signed for Luton Town in January and the latter returning to parent club Nottingham Forest after his loan came to an end.
With converting chances one of the team’s weaknesses, Cheek’s goalscoring pedigree appears to be drawing interest from Lowe and the former England C player could find himself moving up north in the coming weeks.
How impressive was Cheek’s debut season in the EFL?
The 6ft 1 inch forward scored two goals in Bromley’s play-off final win over Solihull Moors in May 2024, as they won 4-3 on penalties, and also went on to score their first-ever EFL goal in a 2-0 opening-day victory at Harrogate Town.
He ended the season with 25 goals and the league’s Player of the Season award, to the surprise of many, despite being one of non-league’s most prolific forwards for a decade.
His tally of goals came from an overall expected goals (XG) of 22.37, therefore overperforming by 2.63, and he also led the way for shots on target (47) and had one of the division’s best shot conversion rates with 26.32%, according to Opta.
When it came to Taylor and Aasgaard’s performances, the former underperformed his XG by 1.2 and the latter overperformed by 0.6.
Aasgaard had 26 shots on target and a shot conversion rate of 12.7%, whilst Taylor’s numbers were 21 and 21.15% in the respective areas.
Therefore, it is clear to see that Cheek was a much better finisher than what Wigan had at their disposal last season so would appear to improve their squad, although his performances were in a lower division.
Would he be a starter?
With the signing of Saydee and the potential incoming of Mullin, Cheek would be an addition to an attack that has the potential to pose a lot more decisiveness and danger in front of goal than last season.
Saydee is likely to be given the chance to be a regular starter but has played very little in recent seasons, with his combined minutes in the past two seasons for Portsmouth equalling just 28.5 full games.
However, he has previously displayed his potential at Shrewsbury Town whilst on loan in the 2022/23 campaign, where he scored seven goals.
His stats in terms of shots on target percentage and shot conversion rate compare similarly to Taylor’s loan spell so it is likely he could provide at least 10 goals.
Mullin had a disappointing season in the third tier despite Wrexham’s promotion to the Championship, scoring just two goals, but would still likely be ahead of Cheek in the pecking order.
As a result, it is unlikely that the Bromley man would be used as a regular threat by the Latics, but instead as more of an impact sub with the experience of scoring goals that not many players can compare to.