Wigan Athletic secure January addition No.5 on loan

The 32-year-old has made the short trip down the M6 to bolster a Latics midfield currently without Tyrese Francois, Matt Smith, Baba Adeeko, Kai Payne and Steven Sessegnon through injury.

Having captained Blackpool and, prior to that, Peterborough United in the Championship, Norburn ticks a number of boxes for Latics boss Shaun Maloney.

“We are very pleased that Ollie will be with us," said Maloney. "He has demonstrated his quality throughout his career and has considerable experience at this level.

“He is a fantastic character and a natural leader, which will bring much-needed seniority to our midfield. I look forward to working with Ollie and hope he has a successful time with us.”

Norburn has made over 300 appearances in the EFL in total, having also turned out for Tranmere Rovers, Shrewsbury Town, Bristol Rovers and Plymouth Argyle.

"The club speaks for itself and I am delighted to be here," said the Bolton-born player. "I have spoken to the manager and Gregor (Rioch, sporting director) and understand their ambition and the potential of the squad.

"And I am looking forward to getting on board with that. The opportunity to come here is huge for myself and I want to get to the high levels of performance I know I can.

"I am really happy to be here and I can’t wait to get going. I have been captain at a few different clubs and I will hope to bring that experience and leadership to the group.

"It is a team full of talent and hopefully I can help bring out the best in them."

Norburn becomes Latics' fifth signing of the January transfer window.

Josh Robinson (Arsenal), Joseph Hungbo (FC Nurnberg) and Jon Mellish (Carlisle United) have all signed three-and-a-half-year deals, while Will Goodwin has joined on loan from Oxford United for the rest of the campaign

“We are very pleased to sign a player of Ollie’s calibre and quality, and I’d like to personally thank Blackpool for their support in enabling us to bring him to our football club," said sporting director Gregor Rioch.

“Ollie’s signing means we have now brought in five new faces into the squad with just over half of the January window behind us. We are delighted that with the financial backing of our ownership group, three of those signings are on a permanent basis which was a big target for us.

"However, the opportunity to bring in a player of Ollie’s calibre and experience on loan until the end of the season was too good to turn down.”

Norburn will wear the No.25 short during his time with Latics and is available for this weekend's trip to Stevenage.

Leaving Latics so far during January are loan duo Calvin Ramsay (Liverpool) and Joe Hugill (Manchester United) - who have returned to their parent clubs - Josh Stones, who’s joined York City for a significant six-figure sum, and Paul Dummett, who has signed for Carlisle United after seeing out his short-term deal.