Wigan's new striker Franco Di Santo claims Chelsea forced him to leave Stamford Bridge in the search for regular football.
The 21-year-old's three-year contract with the Latics was completed minutes before the deadline closed on Tuesday.
Di Santo arrived in England from Chilean side Audax Italiano in 2008 for £3million but made just 16 appearances for Chelsea - and never started a game.
He went on loan to Blackburn last season, playing 22 times in the Barclays Premier League but scoring just once.
But when the offer came in to move to the DW Stadium, Di Santo felt it was time for a change.
'I needed to come to Wigan Athletic at this point in my career,' he said.
'Chelsea are a fantastic club but I didn't have too many opportunities there, so I'm very happy to have made this move. At my age I need to be playing regular football so it's an important move for me and I hope to earn a place in the team and then try my hardest to stay there.
'Tuesday was a bit tense because we got to the last 10-15 minutes of the deadline and the transfer still hadn't gone through.
'In the end all the paperwork went through and the move was complete - it was a great feeling. There were some other offers at the time but Wigan was the move I wanted.'
Wigan Athletic squad for 2010-11Clever move from Wigan as they pip Bolton to Manchester United youngster Tom CleverleyWIGAN FC
Source: Daily_Mail
