'I’ve been a fan of Steven’s for quite a while': Maloney welcomes Latics' new signing

The 23-year-old was confirmed as Latics’ ninth signing of the summer before their game against Barnsley and was paraded in front of the crowd at half-time.

Sessegnon brings useful experience to Maloney’s squad, having graduated from Fulham’s academy and picked up plenty of League One experience in loan spells at Charlton Athletic and Plymouth Argyle.

He has also been capped five times for England at under-21 level.

Maloney said: “I’ve been a fan of Steven’s for quite a while. I love what he can do on the ball, particularly with how we try and play.

“You kind of need to be a full-back and a midfielder and he can do both from the left and right hand sides.

“As we’re seeing this season with more injury time, you can really see the fatigue of the players in the last 10-15 minutes of the games.

“So it’s very much a case of the more quality players we can have in our squad, the better.

“We’re going to need players coming on and giving us plenty of energy and Steven will give us that and then he can push to get a starting spot.”

Latics suffered their first league defeat of the season at home to Barnsley on Saturday but there were positives to take from the game, including the return of Jordan Jones from injury.

The 28-year-old has been a peripheral figure since joining Latics in 2021, having two spells on loan up in Scotland.

Maloney said: “Jordan has to be a big part of our plans. We’ve got Callum and Jordan on that side at the moment - with Thelo (Aasgaard) having that injury - so we have to use every player we’ve got.

“I think with what we’ve been through, players came back in the summer with clean slates and we’ve seen players like Stephen Humphreys, Tom Pearce and Jordan Jones come back in.

“I’ll give him opportunities if he trains hard and if he performs well on the pitch he’ll get that opportunity.”

“I know Jordan has a lot to give. I know there’s been some tough times at the club and I almost feel like I need to give him the confidence to think that he does have a fresh start.

“I do think he’s got talent. It may take him a while to find his feet, but I think he’ll give us something this season.”