David De Gea has revealed that he almost joined a decidedly different Lancashire club from Atletico Madrid.
While the Spanish goalkeeper has gone on to earn legendary status for his time at Manchester United, De Gea's first opportunity to join a Premier League club instead came at Wigan.
After having made his debut in the Spanish capital aged just 18, De Gea found himself struggling for game time during his maiden season at Atletico.
The 31-year-old revealed during an episode of BT Sport's What I Wore that during that period he came close to joining the then-Premier League side.
De Gea explained: 'I was in Atletico and it was the same season I made my debut and I was like the third keeper and not even count for the team much, just training. Nothing else.
'So Wigan got in contact with me just to sign for them and I was very, very close to sign for Wigan.'
Though it is not known whether De Gea was set to join the club permanently or on loan, he would've faced competition from the likes of Chris Kirkland and Mike Pollitt for a place between the posts at the DW Stadium.
Wigan would ultimately managed to avoid the drop that season as Roberto Martinez led the club to a 16th-placed finish in the league.
Just 18 months later De Gea would make the move to Manchester United after being earmarked by Sir Alex Ferguson as the man to serve as the long-term successor to Edwin van der Sar.