Wigan eye free‑agent striker once bought by Aston Villa for £12m

Wigan Athletic are weighing a free‑agent signing of 34‑year‑old striker Scott Hogan, the player who cost Aston Villa £12 million in 2017, after he was released by MK Dons at the end of the 2025‑26 season and has been training with the Latics for a month.

The club have endured a poor start to their 2026‑27 League One campaign, suffering defeats to Cambridge United and Leyton Orient that have left them at the bottom of the table heading into the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Wigan's precarious start

Those losses have heightened the urgency for fresh attacking options, and the Latics see Hogan’s experience – thirteen Championship seasons and twelve international caps – as a potential catalyst for a points surge.

Free‑agent advantage

Because Hogan is out of contract, the standard 11 pm September 1 transfer‑window deadline does not apply, allowing Wigan to register him after the window closes. He has been training with the squad for a month but has not yet received a formal contract offer, giving the club flexibility to decide later.

Wigan also have other “major targets”, including Wrexham midfielder Harry Ashfield, and may prioritise Hogan if those deals fall through.

Action Images By  Ian King PM GMT+1 Ian was born in London in 1972. From 2006 until 2021, he ran the football website Twohundredpercent, and from 2021 to 2023 he was a senior features writer for Football365. He has been freelancing since then, contributing to Fotmob and When Saturday Comes. He won FSA awards for Twohundredpercent in 2012 and 2015, and received further nominations in 2014, 2022 and 2024. He now lives in West Sussex with his two children. The article is written for Us. Two.

If the deal materialises, Hogan could provide Wigan with a seasoned striker capable of influencing games off the bench, while the player gains a platform to restart his career after a season without a club.