Wigan Athletic starlet hoping to follow in pals' footsteps

The 15-year-old midfielder, who has represented England Under-16s, had been on the radars of a number of Premier League clubs after impressing at junior level.

But he’s opted to remain with Latics, who he joined after being released by Liverpool at the age of 11.

And after already being invited to train with the first team at Euxton, Devine has his sights set on following in the footsteps of Gelhardt and Weir into Paul Cook’s plans.

“I want to carry on as I’m doing, and keep on trying to improve,” he said.

“I want to surround myself with the right people who can help me keen on improving.

“I’d like to make it into Wigan’s first-team at some point, however long that might take.

“And obviously I’d want to play first-team football when I’m older. I just want to keep on making it, step by step.”

Devine admits he found training with the senior pro’s a strange experience at first.

“Some of them were proper moaning!” he laughed.

“I couldn’t say anything, so I had to take the abuse, but it was a good experience.

“It was a lot, lot faster than Under-16s and Under-18s.

“You have to think a lot quicker, and then it’s the physical aspect as well.

“You can’t really take four or five touches on the ball otherwise the ball will be gone, so you need to be faster and faster with your feet as well.”

And having been released by Liverpool so early in his career, he’s determined to make the most of his second crack at making it as a footballer.

“At first when you are released it’s a bit upsetting,” he told the Echo. “You don’t want to keep telling everyone, yeah, I got released. It doesn’t feel nice.”