Wigan Athletic completed the signing of Ryan Nyambe on a one-year deal on Wednesday, on a free after the 24-year-old left Blackburn Rovers this summer.

A product of the Blackburn youth setup, Nyambe made his debut in the League Cup at the back end of 2015 and went on to make 199 appearances for the club, as an important player in taking Rovers up from League One and comfortably stabilising with them in the Championship.

Nyambe took to Twitter to send a heartfelt farewell message to Rovers supporters after finalising his move to the Latics.

He wrote: "Thank you @Rovers for an amazing 11 years, thank you to the staff for helping me become the person and footballer I am today.

"I've enjoyed a very special journey at an amazing club that will always have a special place in my heart.

"I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to have met and played with some great players that became a family to me!

"Lastly, thank you to the fans that have been a big part of my journey!"

It is going to be difficult for Rovers to replicate the play-off challenge that they put together under Tony Mowbray last season, and losing players like Nyambe is one of the key reasons why.

The Verdict

The signing of Callum Brittain from Barnsley this morning softens the blow enormously, but it does not replace the years of service that Nyambe gave to the football club.

Rovers utilised the loan market extremely well last season, and will need to do so again to give Jon Dahl Tomasson a squad that is capable of having an encouraging first half to the campaign.

The jury is out on the Dane's managerial credentials in the Championship, and it will be interesting to see how they set up in comparison to the very flexible side that Mowbray deployed last term.

Nyambe will be fondly remembered at Ewood Park, even though his exit to sign for Wigan will have come as a surprise to many.