Quote: Frank35 "What a strange post, both love and hate all rolled into one
Should a 18-20 year old be playing a full season, he's still developing as a man/player ... He will get the best possible path for his development at Wigan. '"
Should he play a full season at that age? Well the jury's out on how useful in developing a player extended exposure to first team can be. Should he be available for a full season? That's a yes, but his biscuit bones have so far conspired to prevent his selection as a reliable player. He seems to start building momentum then gets crocked.
Like I say, if you keep him fit he might fullfill his potential, but it's a big if.
Also, he's a bit quick to run his mouth on social media sites so expect the occasional tantrum when he realises how far down the pecking order he drops as I think Wigan have better forwards already than Bateman and he'll have to pull his finger out to get noticed. Mind you, that might be good for him as he's had it a bit easy at Bradford.