Vice-captain Pearce joins Charlton

The 28-year-old, who has been strongly linked with an exit for much of the summer, appeared to have slipped down the pecking order following the arrival of central defenders Dan Burn and Jake Buxton.

And Latics boss Gary Caldwell finally sanctioned the deal in the interests of ‘all parties’.

Caldwell said: “Jason has been an excellent player for our football club, and I can’t speak highly enough of the effort he put in every day in training and every time he donned the club’s shirt.

“He was in the final year of his contract and all parties agreed it was the best time for him to move on for the benefit of his career in the long term.

“I have an immense amount of respect for Jason and, on behalf of everyone at the football club, I wish him the very best in the future.”

Pearce, who scored four goals in 49 appearances for Latics since joining from Leeds in January last year, admits he’s looking forward to the next step in his career.

“I’m delighted,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming.

“I’ve known about the club’s interest for a while now, and I’m glad to finally get it signed and be a Charlton player.

“When I spoke to the manager, he really wanted me to be part of his team that will be trying to get straight back up into the Championship, and I’m really happy that I am.”

Charlton manager Russell Slade could not hide his delight at pulling off a real coup for an ‘undisclosed’ fee.

“Jason certainly knows what it takes to get out of this league,” said Slade. “He’s an absolute warrior; a leader; winner and will be an example on the pitch to all of his team-mates and our younger players as well.

“It’s took some time to get it done, but he was a target that was an exceptionally good fit for us and we are delighted to get him.”