Wigan Athletic and Bolton Wanderers shared mutual disappointment in winger | OneFootball

Sanmi Odelusi failed to deliver quality for either Bolton Wanderers or Wigan Athletic

Wigan Athletic and Bolton Wanderers share a fierce local rivalry, meaning that supporters of the two clubs, who have locked horns in each of the Premier League, Championship and League One, do not agree on many things.

Latics supporters may never let the Wanderers faithful live down the fact that their side won 4-0 during consecutive trips to the Toughsheet Community Stadium in 2021 and 2023.

But Wanderers supporters will still be grateful that their club won the last FA Cup encounter between the two Greater Manchester sides back in 2015, thanks to a solitary Zach Clough goal.

Despite the rivalry between the two clubs, plenty of players have played for both sides over the years, including the aforementioned Clough as well as some more notable figures such as ex-England international Emile Heskey and Premier League cult hero and goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi.

Meanwhile, one man who played for both the Wanderers and the Latics but will not be remembered fondly by fans of either club is former winger Sanmi Odelusi.

Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic shared mutual Odelusi disappointment

Odelusi rose through Bolton's youth ranks following stints in both the Queens Park Rangers and Reading academies.

He went on to make his senior Wanderers debut during the 2012/13 Championship season, and went on to make a further eight appearances for the club the following campaign.

But despite notching two goals in as many EFL Cup outings during the 2013/14 campaign, the wideman was sent on loan to MK Dons, then of League One, in February 2014.

Odelusi made 10 appearances for the Buckinghamshire side in the third-tier and failed to make a single goal contribution.

Despite returning to Wanderers during the summer of 2014, the winger did not make another appearance for the North West outfit prior to joining Coventry City on loan in January 2015.

During his time with the Sky Blues, Odelusi scored more goals than he ever did for any other club in his career, with three in 14 appearances.

His exploits in the West Midlands were clearly enough to impress the Latics, who signed him from bitter rivals Wanderers ahead of the 2015/16 League One campaign.

The Latics won the third-tier title in 2016, but frankly such an achievement was no thanks to Odelusi, who made just three League One outings for Wigan.

In fact, the wideman was told he could leave the Brick Community Stadium just weeks on from penning a three-year contract with the Greater Manchester Club.

Following his five appearances in 2015/16, the former Wanderers man would not make another outing for the Latics prior to joining Colchester United during the summer of 2017, as he instead endured loan spells with both Rochdale and Blackpool.

The ex-winger is now retired, and had stints in non-league with both Halifax Town and Hayes & Yeading United before he hung his boots up.

In total, Odelusi made just nine senior appearances for Wanderers, scoring two goals in the process, while he failed to score during his five Latics outings.

While the Latics and the Wanderers don't tend to agree on many things, both clubs will share their disappointment in the lack of quality offered by the former wideman.

It is strange to think Odelusi was involved in Wigan Athletic's 2016 League One title triumph

The 2015/16 League One campaign was a joyous one in Wigan's history, as they raced towards the third-tier title by winning an impressive tally of 87 points.

Such a glorious campaign for the Latics was underpinned by the goalscoring brilliance of Will Grigg, who notched a prolific return of 25 goals and five assists in 40 third-tier outings.

Therefore, the Brick Community Stadium faithful could be forgiven for failing to remember that the significantly less successful Odelusi was involved in proceedings during the same campaign.

Despite their title-winning triumph which coincided with Odelusi's time at the club, the Tics will not think of the wideman in a more positive light than that of Wanderers, who were also left disappointed by his efforts.