The England Under-21 international spent the first half of this campaign on loan at Wigan’s fellow Championship side Watford, where he made seven league appearances, before returning to parent club Chelsea at the beginning of January.
The 20-year-old, who has also spent time on loan at Swansea City, Watford and Middlesbrough, first featured for Chelsea in their 2010 UEFA Champions League group stage game against MSK Zilina of Slovakia.
Keenly admired by Blues boss at the time Carlo Ancelotti, McEachran was handed his Premier League debut 10 days later as a substitute in Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat against Manchester City - and his first start in the reverse UEFA Champions League fixture against MSK Zilina in November.
Josh McEachran
- Born: 1 March 1993
- Place: Oxford
- Previous clubs: Chelsea (parent club), Swansea City, Middlesbrough, Watford
- England representative: U16s (5 caps), U17s (12 caps), U19s 6 caps), U21s (13 caps)
However, a succession of managerial changes at Stamford Bridge resulted in McEachran finding his opportunities limited, and he only made a further nine first-team appearances over the next two years.
McEachran last represented England Under-21s at the 2013 European Championships in Israel, but has so far been overlooked by new boss Gareth Southgate.
The Oxford-born midfielder will now be hoping to find regular football and force his way back into Southgate’s plans.
Latics manager Uwe Rosler said he had no doubts over the Oxford-born midfielder’s ability.
Speaking to the club’s official website, he said: “This is a big scoop or us. There’s no doubt Josh is a huge young talent, and we have worked really hard to convince him and Chelsea this is the right place for him to be for the rest of the season.
“I thank everyone for their efforts in making the move happen. Hopefully, we will be able to help each other, he can bring something to our team and we can help in the development of one of the country’s finest young talents.”
