Wigan Will always be a club I have a close connection to.

I’m grateful that I was given the pleasure of coming back to play in England and restart the joy of playing in a country that I wasn’t yet finished with. 

Wigan gave me that opportunity to come back and play in the Premier League again, and I was named captain by Mr Wheelan and Chris Hutchings. I would wake up and get in my car to travel to Wigan where everyone was very welcoming and happy to see anyone that cared about their club. 

They maybe never knew that my motivation came from the fact I wanted to entertain the Wigan fans and promised my self to never experience the feeling of being relegated again. There was a season where we came so close and I spoke to my loved ones and they asked if there was anything I could do to help the team. Of course I said I give them my best. 

My family answered and said “giving your best as a captain is great, but you need more if the confidence of the team is low.” Long after thinking, I said I could never hide. They said “do you hide in training?” I said no, so they said then make sure you don’t forget that in games too because the rest will copy.

I started thinking that no matter what happens I have to get on the ball and luckily my manager at the time, Steve Bruce, screamed at me to get on the ball and get us playing. First I thought, I am your right back, but later on that was the best confirmation of the plan I was thinking of, so I started to take the risks that I always had done playing the game. This is what I had tried to do at the end of my days with Birmingham, but it was a tough journey because the fans wanted to play safe.

But at Wigan I said I can’t look at my family if I promised them something and don’t follow through.

I start playing and managed to make it work for a team that already accomplished so much, and together we stayed in the Premier League.

I’ve seen Wigan in tricky situations first hand in the past, and the club always come out fighting. That’s why I know The Latics will do everything they can and more to survive despite all the challenges they currently face. #mmlove