For the second time in the space of a week, Wigan Athletic are set to raid League One rivals Portsmouth for an important player.

First it was 24-year-old centre-back Jack Whatmough who swapped Fratton Park for the DW Stadium as he penned a two-year contract, with the option to extend it into a third year.

And Whatmough will be joined by a former team-mate in Tom Naylor, who is also departing the south coast club despite being offered a new deal.

Pompey reportedly expected the 29-year-old to return to the north of England due to a change in his personal circumstances and it looks as though the Latics, backed by their new-found Bahraini wealth having been taken over a few months ago, are going to win the race for the midfielder.

The Sun's Alan Nixon has reported that Wigan lead the chase for Naylor, who played in all 46 League One games for Pompey last season, scoring six times.

And when quizzed further on the move, Nixon said that the move is 'very' close, and with the addition of Ipswich winger Gwion Edwards confirmed it would mean that the Latics have taken three players already from next season's promotion rivals.

The Verdict

Despite offering contracts, Portsmouth seem to be losing all their players which seems to be an indication that the money on offer at Fratton Park this summer isn't what it once was.

Whatmough, Ben Close and Ryan Williams have all left for fellow League One clubs and with Naylor also heading out of the exit door, it shows the challenge that Danny Cowley has to rebuild his side ready for a promotion push.

As for Wigan, Leam Richardson is clearly being backed by the new ownership group as he's able to bring in proven League One quality to the DW Stadium without having to spend any transfer fees.

Naylor will bring experience and know-how to the engine room and he's already been promoted from the division with Burton Albion - that could prove invaluable at the business end of the season if Wigan are in the promotion battle.