Wigan’s Omar Bogle could have succeeded where Tony Watt failed at Celtic

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Wigan Athletic splashed out £1m on the 23-year-old on Deadline Day, five years after he departed Celtic for non-league.

Omar Bogle wasn’t going to wait around as he plotted his route to the top of the British game. In the end, all it took was six months in Celtic’s esteemed academy to convince him to take the plunge in non-league.

And five years after putting everything on the line by swapping the safety of the Scottish champions’ plush youth system for the grit and tin sheds of Hinckley United in the Conference North, Bogle finally got his breakthrough move, albeit with a club struggling to stay afloat in the Championship, as reported by Sky Sports.

Wigan Athletic, by far and away the lowest scorers in the second tier, have gambled up to £1 million on the former Grimsby Town goal machine, Sky Sports add, though, in the opinion of manager Warren Joyce, the Birmingham-born 23-year-old has everything it takes to make the substantial step up to the next level.

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With 19 goals in just 27 League Two appearances this season, few would argue that Bogle is not worth the risk.

Then, in hindsight, perhaps Celtic will live to regret failing to give him assurances about his future at Parkhead although the presence of Leigh Griffiths and Moussa Dembele mean Brendan Rodgers is hardly lacking in goalscorers.

After all, while Bogle sought to start again, rising from the bottom up, his former Under-19 strike partner Watt earned an opportunity in the senior side and, thanks to a Hollywood winner against Barcelona in the Champions League, was rapidly tipped for Celtic stardom.

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However, in his four seasons after failing to make the grade at Parkhead, the 23-year-old has mustered just 22 goals in 98 appearances for various clubs in the Football League and beyond. Maybe Celtic gave a chance to the wrong man.