Wigan Athletic are preparing for life back in the Championship after winning the League One title last season.

That promotion capped a hugely impressive turnaround under Leam Richardson, who deserves just as much credit for keeping the Latics up in previous seasons.

The North West club will know that they'll need to back the manager if they're to have success at Championship level because some squads find it very difficult to make the step up.

With that in mind, there are some busy weeks ahead for Wigan as they look to strengthen the squad ahead of the start of the 2022/23 campaign.

Our focus today isn't on 2022 summer transfers, however, as we're looking back at some disappointing additions – and there have been plenty to arrive at the DW Stadium in the modern era.

We've highlighted 8 of the most underwhelming Wigan Athletic signings from recent times and where they are now...

We start our list with a player that is still on the Latics' books.

Signing Graeme Shinnie looked like an absolute coup when he joined from Derby County in January for a five-figure sum – having won their Player of the Season award in 2020/21.

He's not been terrible but there is surely no denying that his Wigan tenure has been hugely underwhelming as he's failed to make much of an impact at all.

Shinnie remains a Wigan player but could well depart this summer.

Little was known about the Argentine forward that cost a multi-million-pound fee from Estudiantes back in 2010 but that mystery only added to the excitement.

Unfortunately, the forward never managed to fire at the DW Stadium and would score just five goals during his time with the club.

It was a spell that included multiple loans and one that left him notorious as an underwhelming addition.

Now 37, the striker is back at Estudiantes in the Liga Profesional in Argentina.

The North West club will have known they were rolling the dice when they signed Zach Clough from Nottingham Forest in January 2021 but that doesn't make his Latics spell any less underwhelming.

He'd been out of favour at Forest but many will have hoped he could get back to his best when he joined.

That did not happen and the 27-year-old left in the next window. He can be found plying his trade A-League side Adelaide United.

Picked up after an impressive 2016/17 campaign for non-league side Eastleigh, Wigan will have been hoping that Mikael Mandron could make the step up with ease.

That wasn't the case and he'd play just three times – for a total of 83 minutes – for the Championship club.

The fact he was sold to Colchester United in League Two shows what an underwhelming signing it was for a second tier club.

He is now plying his trade successfully with Crewe.

A seven-figure fee was spent to bring Jason Scotland to Wigan from Swansea City and you can understand why given the striker had scored 52 goals and provided 19 assists in his two seasons with the Welsh club.

But he was unable to recreate that form for the Latics and the step up to the Premier League proved too much for him.

He'd scored just twice in his 36 appearances for Wigan before leaving and hung up his boots in 2017.

Josh Laurent is now a well-established midfield technician in the Championship and has just secured a move to Stoke City ahead of the new campaign.

It's fair to say that is not the player that Wigan fans saw at the DW Stadium.

Signed from Hartlepool United in January 2017, Laurent struggled at the North West club and by August that year, he was on loan at Bury.

A permanent move to Shrewsbury would follow fairly swiftly.

Big things were expected of Ryo Miyaichi at Arsenal, with the winger's electric pace making him a player that looked destined for big things.

There was plenty of excitement then when the Latics landed him on loan in August 2012 but unfortunately, his time at the club would prove underwhelming.

Injuries were a major factor and saw the move cut short but fans will have been expecting more.

The 29-year-old currently plays for Yokohama F. M. in the Japanese top tier.

It wouldn't be a list of underwhelming Wigan signings without this man included, now, would it?

Omar Bogle scored 19 goals for Grimsby Town in the first half of the 2016/17 campaign and looked a phenomenal addition in January 2017 but it didn't turn out that way.

He'd make only 14 appearances and score just three goals for the Latics before leaving just seven months later.

Bogle is now a Hartlepool United player – having joined in January this year.