Jonny Smith – Welcome to Wigan Athletic

Latics have made their first permanent signing of the summer in the shape of 25-year-old attacking midfielder Jonny Smith. Smith arrives on a two-year contract after leaving Burton at the end of his contract this summer and adds plenty of much needed qualities to our attacking unit. Oh, and he was one of my Sensible Transfers picks so I’m delighted.

I speak a lot about the need to build a squad of different profiles and this signing is doing exactly that. A speedy, left-footed right-sided player with quality delivery from wide areas and set pieces, as well as the willingness to shoot from range. All of those are qualities that we lacked massively last season so to bring someone in that covers all bases is very astute.

On the face of it some supporters might look at us signing somebody recently departing from Burton Albion and question it, but for me it’s important to look at this in a positive way. We’ve signed a 25-year-old with nearly 100 League One appearance and 25 goal involvements for absolutely nothing. He fits the system perfectly and his attributes compliment our other forwards very well. Be happy everyone. Be happy.

What does he bring to the side?

Jonny Smith offers something different to the players we already have at the club and that’s ultimately the first thing you want from a new signing. There’s no danger of this being a signing to replace an outgoing player, this is absolutely someone who will have a part to play next season alongside players like Callum Lang, Thelo Aasgaard and Will Keane in the two ‘7/10 hybrid’ positions behind the striker.

Smith’s main attributes are his ball carrying and long range shooting. I’d suggest that, on his day, there are few players better at cutting in from the right wing and firing shots on goal than Latics’ new forward. It should be said that he has been known to go missing at times during games but in fairness he’s somebody that needs the ball regularly and wasn’t always able to have things his way in a possession starved Burton side.

Considering he didn’t get much of the ball last season his output when he was in possession was really impressive. The graphic below shows that he was well above average for League One wingers in several key metrics such as expected assists per 90, crosses per 90, successful dribbles per 90, accurate passes into the final third per 90 and many others. In theory, if you put him in a side that sees more of the ball those numbers will be even higher.

This excellent player profile designed by AnalyticsWBA on Twitter gives us a real insight into how impressive Smith’s underlying stats are. On the face of it two goals and three assists isn’t much to shout about but the xG and xA models both suggest those numbers should improve. Smith was one of the players I initially identified because of his data and I’m sure that played a big part in Latics’ recruitment process too. He is a player that, if we can get the best from him, will shine.

I think a big positive for Jonny Smith is his technical quality, especially when it comes to retaining the ball in tight areas. His passing accuracy is good and his physical build allows him to move with speed and agility in and out of defenders. It’s why I think he’ll be really dangerous in the right half space, be that through linking up with overlapping and underlapping teammates or cutting inside himself and shooting or crossing.

The yellow zone will be where he thrives I feel. He’s the tip of the right-sided diamond and has several close passing options, as well as the ability to cross to the back post or take shots from the corner of the box. Smith will also be keen to drift inside in order to effect the game more, especially when the ball is on the opposite flank. Width is always provided by the opposite sides full back so there’s plenty of licence to roam from his position.

Smith will give us an injection of pace on the counter attack too which is something we’ve lacked so often recently. He’s not rapid and I still hope we bring in more speed in attacking areas but his physical attributes are a welcome addition to the side. He’s very similar to Callum Lang in terms of his ball carrying style. Those pair on opposite wings is a pretty dangerous combination.

Where might he play?

Should we change to a back four he’ll likely be used behind the striker or on the right wing, essentially no different to where he’ll play in our main system. I can’t see him being the kind of player to play 46 games a season but he should definitely get a good run of games for us. We’re competing in four competitions this year so he’ll have plenty of opportunities to impress.

Final Thoughts

Well I’m glad I can finally say Wigan Athletic have signed one of the players that featured in my Sensible Transfers articles. Hopefully it won’t be the last, although they seem to all be getting snapped up pretty quickly unfortunately! With that being said, several clubs in League One will have looked at Smith and hoped a deal could be made with him so it’s nice to not be in that position for a change.

Jonny Smith is exactly the type of player we should be signing. He’s cost us absolutely nothing, his wage at Burton was reportedly £2k a week so assuming it’s in a similar ballpark to that it’s an absolute steal. He’s someone that we should be able to get a lot of output from, and even if we don’t I’d be confident that we can secure a six figure sale for him at some point later down the line. Lets hope we don’t have to though obviously.

Our attacking unit looks pretty good now. We’ve managed to add a left footed, set piece taking, long range shooting, ball carrying forward to our squad for absolutely nothing. He compliments our other forwards well and should be able to produce even better output in our side than he did at Burton. I’m very pleased with this signing. Very pleased.

Welcome to Wigan Athletic, Jonny Smith.

Read more about Jonny Smith, and nine other options, in the article here!