Wigan Athletic have this morning completed the signing of Republic of Ireland international James McClean who joins on a three-year deal from Sunderland.

James McCleanThe 24-year-old winger successfully underwent a medical at the club yesterday and put pen to paper on his contract earlier today.

Coyle wasted no time in snapping up the talented midfielder having to move quickly to beat a number of other clubs to his signature.

Derry born McClean started his career in 2007 with local side Institute, where former Manchester United and Everton midfielder Darron Gibson also started out life.

He transferred to Derry City the following year where he started to make a name for himself and was described by his former manager Stephen Kenny as “an exciting prospect for the future”.

He attracted the attention of a number of clubs and after three seasons with Derry he was signed by Sunderland in August 2011 for a fee of £350,000 with then manager Steve Bruce describing him as “one for the future”.

Following Steve Bruce’s dismissal he was thrust into first team action by new manager Martin O’Neill making his senior debut for The Black Cats as a substitute against Blackburn Rovers in December of that year and his first start arrived a few weeks later in a 1-0 win against Manchester City on New Year’s Day.

His first goal for the club came just two days later, ironically at the DW Stadium against Wigan in a 4-1 win for Sunderland and went on the win  the club’s Young Player of the Year award at the end of the season.

He made a total of 70 appearances for Sunderland in his two seasons with the club and found the net 8 times during that time.

His international experience started out with the Northern Ireland U21 side but opted to play for the Republic of Ireland at senior level, making his debut in February 2012 against the Czech Republic at the Aviva Stadium.

He has represented the Republic on 13 occasions and is in Giovanni Trapattoni’s squad to face Wales in Cardiff next week alongside his new team mate James McCarthy.

It is believed that his former club Derry City will benefit from the signing due to a sell on clause included in the deal that took him to the Stadium of Light.

Speaking to the official website, McClean said: “I’m delighted to be signing, it’s happened very quickly but as soon as I found out the gaffer was interested I wanted to come. You can see this is a club moving in the right direction again and I can’t wait to be a part of that.

“I know James McCarthy very well and he’s said only good things about the place so I’m really looking forward to getting started and meeting everyone.”