Callum Wright credits Wigan Athletic stint after completing Hibernian switch

The 26-year-old impressed at Wigan last term during his season-long loan from Plymouth Argyle.

Latics were desperate to keep hold of him on a permanent deal, but were blown out of the water because of the money on offer - and the carrot of playing on the continent.

“I'm buzzing to get the deal done”, said Wright. “I'm delighted to be here. As soon as it came about and things started progressing, I only wanted to be in one place.

“I think the project sold me. The club is obviously involved in the UEFA Conference League qualifiers, which was a massive attraction for me.

“It's so different to what I've experienced in England, and you don't really get opportunities like that unless you're at the very top level.

“The club has achieved that two years in a row now, and they came very close to reaching the group stage last season.

"The ambition to keep pushing on, combined with what the team achieved in the league this year and competing with Rangers and Celtic, made it something I wanted to be part of. It's a really exciting project.”

One of Wright's new team-mates will be Jason Kerr, who moved to the club he supported as a boy after five years at Wigan.

“I spoke to a lot of people about the move," said Wright. "Funnily enough, I spoke to Jase, my captain at Wigan, about Hibs a couple of months ago, maybe six or eight weeks back.

"At the time, he never mentioned anything about potentially joining himself.

“He absolutely raved about the club and the city. Then, not long after, things started to materialise for him as well.

"It became a bit of a mad situation because he messaged me saying there was a chance we could both be coming here together.

“Obviously, Jase is from Edinburgh, so he knows the city well. He spoke so highly of both Edinburgh and Hibs, and as soon as I came up to see things for myself, I understood exactly what he meant.”

Wright made no secret of the fact he enjoyed his year with Latics.

“Last season on loan at Wigan worked out exactly how I wanted it to," he said. "I loved my time there and I had a really successful season personally.

“I scored goals, got assists and really enjoyed my football. That's exactly what I wanted from the loan move.

“I've won League Two and League One in England, and those experiences definitely helped me develop as a player.

"Before going out on loan to Wigan, I felt things had slowed down a little in terms of my career trajectory. The loan was about getting myself back on track and proving what I could do again.

“Thankfully, it worked out really well. It was successful and now I'm ready to kick on again. I think this is a really important move in my career.”

Hibs head coach David Gray is expecting big things from the new arrival.

“We’re delighted Callum has committed his future to the club and we can’t wait for him to get started," he said.

“He has all the traits you want in a midfielder; high energy, excellent work-rate, creativity and an eye for goal.

“He is coming off the back of a very impressive season at Wigan and it is extremely beneficial that he has arrived with a full pre-season ahead of him and a good opportunity to gel with the group.”

Hibs sporting director Malky Mackay - who managed Latics during the 2014/15 campaign - added on the club's official website: “Callum is a player who attracted a lot of interest from various clubs, so we are delighted to get this deal over the line at the beginning of the window.

“He is exactly the type of character that we want to bring into the building and he has fantastic attributes as a player too.

“He knows what it takes to win, and he has a brilliant work ethic and willingness to do well. We welcome him and his family to Hibernian FC and look forward to seeing him out on the pitch.”