The noise didn't drop after the goal.
"What's he on?" a voice shouted from a few rows back, half laughing, half stunned.
"Honestly, where did we find him?" another followed.
The chant that rolled out of the Wigan slowed.
It was like a crowd trying to catch up with what they were watching.
A kid, really. Their kid.
People started filling in the gaps aloud, stories everyone had heard but never quite believed.
"Four grand a week, they said."
"United let him go, just like that."
"No buyback. Nothing."
A man in a flat cap shook his head, smiling now.
"Mad, that. Makes you wonder what they've got up there if this wasn't enough."
Someone else chimed in, louder. "Or maybe they just didn't see him."
What had sounded risky in August suddenly felt like a steal now.
Should Wigan pay him more?
On the pitch, the game edged toward its end.
Blackburn pushed without real 'umf' behind their balls, which were sent forward just for the sake of that only.
