How Wigan Athletic boss used the old pals act to snare Martial Godo

The Latics boss made only 37 appearances during his two years with the Tigers at the end of his career.

But that was long enough to strike up a relationship with then-Hull boss Marco Silva, who is now in charge at Premier League Fulham.

And when Latics were looking for a young forward player with pace and trickery to complete their summer recruitment, Silva proved to be worth his weight in gold.

"I have to thank Fulham for helping us with Martial," revealed Maloney.

"I know the manager from my time at Hull, and he played a key role in Martial joining us.

"That was a real late one in the window, but Marco really pushed the deal through to get him here.”

Godo has been an absolute revelation since his arrival at the DW, with three goals and a few man of the match awards from his dozen appearances.

"The great thing about Martial is he has a non-league background, he played a period of time at Margate, so I didn't have any fear about him dealing with the physicality,” added Maloney.

"I'll be honest, the talent and the technique is even more than what I saw before he arrived.

"And that's down to him, he's constantly in on days off, constantly working hard, does not want to come off the pitch.

"He's got a bit of talent for sure, but there's even more to come from him."