Wigan Athletic on red alert along with Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers after Stoke City transfer policy revealed

The 25-year-old striker is out of favour at Stoke, and spent the second half of this season on loan at Blackpool, scoring seven times in 17 starts.

He is well known to Latics boss Ryan Lowe, who took him to Plymouth in January 2021.

After Lowe was headhunted by Preston North End, Ennis continued to bang in the goals which helped Plymouth win promotion to the Championship under Steven Schumacher in 2022/23.

Following a short and unhappy spell at Blackburn Rovers, Ennis rejoined Schumacher at Stoke midway through the 2023/24 campaign for a fee of £500,000.

And with Schumacher now manager of Bolton Wanderers, it comes as no surprise that they are monitoring developments, while Blackpool would like to make his loan move permanent.

With 12 months remaining on his deal, sources in the Potteries claim Stoke are wanting to cash in now while his value is relatively high.

Lowe was recently asked by Wigan Today whether Ennis was a person of interest this summer.

"He would be well known to me...because I revitalised his career!" laughed Lowe. "I signed him from Wolves for Plymouth, and he did fantastic for me and fantastic for them after I left.

"Look, I know Niall very well, he's a fantastic lad and he's a goalscorer at this level, definitely. He's been up and down the Championship, he's had some opportunities.

"But I think he's probably one of many who will be linked, given we obviously have a friendship. He's contracted to Stoke City for another 12 months I think, but we're always in the market for good players - and Niall is certainly one of them."

Aware of the player's previous ties with Lowe, Blackpool boss Steve Bruce said recently: “Ryan is his old manager, so it doesn’t surprise me. He’s done very well Niall, he’s enjoyed his football here.

We’re delighted with what he’s done for us, so let’s have conversations and see what we can do.

“The move had done him the world of good and put him back in the spotlight, and he’s scored a few goals for us. I’d like to keep him if I could, but we’ll see what happens. We’ve got to be mindful of the fact that he belongs to Stoke, so if there’s a deal to be done, let’s see what we can do.”

Wolverhampton-born Ennis came through the ranks at his hometown club, and was sent out on loan to Shrewsbury Town, Doncaster Rovers and Burton Albion before scoring 24 times in 97 appearances in two-and-a-half years at Plymouth.

Latics boss Lowe has already confirmed he is looking to bring in three new forwards over the summer.

With loan duo Dale Taylor (Nottingham Forest) and Will Goodwin (Oxford United) having returned to their parent clubs, Lowe is desperate to add firepower to a side that was the lowest scorers in League One this term.