New life in Australia for Wigan Athletic legend

The 29-year-old trained briefly with Latics over the off-season, playing in the friendly victory over Bolton.

But after two spells at Wigan - one of which delivering the FA Cup in 2013 - he's elected to up sticks for a crack at the A-League with Grant Brebner's outfit.

“Melbourne Victory is such a big club in Australia with a proud history, and after speaking with Grant I knew this was a great opportunity for my career,” McManaman said.

“I’m really looking forward to getting to Melbourne, I can't wait to meet my new team-mates and putting in the hard work over the pre-season.

“This is a proud club with a huge supporter base and we all want to help get Victory back up the table.

"It’s going to take plenty of hard work, but I can’t wait to get started under Grant.”

Brebner added: “We are extremely pleased to announce Callum will be joining us.

“Callum is a very experienced player who has performed on the biggest stage in the world’s toughest club competition, the English Premier League.

“He’s a wonderful addition to our playing group. Callum works hard both ways, is a proven goalscorer and at only 29 years of age, has plenty of good football ahead of him.

“There’s no question Callum is a very talented player but what he also brings is leadership and a hunger for success.

"He will play an important role in driving the standards of our playing group on and off the pitch.”

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