Educated at the Ajax school, excellent at Chelsea before they got mega-rich, the Dutchman will do a fine job in defence
An Ajax-schooled rampaging right-back who can also turn out as a composed centre-back, Melchiot reportedly spurned the likes of Lazio and Marseille to rejoin Steve Bruce at Wigan.
He arrived from Birmingham via a season at French side Rennes and was swiftly installed as captain. At the peak of his career Melchiot enjoyed five seasons at Chelsea, but was released at the start of the Roman Abramovich era in 2004.
When he came on for Holland against Romania at Euro 2008, ‘Super Mario’ became the first-ever Wigan player to feature at a major international tournament.