Reports say that Liam Ridgewell will be headed back to his native England for a few weeks on a short-term loan to Wigan Athletic. A finalized deal is set to be announced later this week.
Ridgewell came to Portland by way of West Bromwich Albion midway through the 2014 season to try and help fix a broken defense. Portland gave Ridgewell their third DP contract, and lived up to the hype. Along with helping to turn around one of the league's worst defenses, Ridgewell added two goals and an assist to his namesake.
Ridgewell will try and help another ailing team, this time in the second tier of English football. Despite having one of the better defenses in the Championship, Wigan Athletic sit second from last on the table on 20 points; three points from escaping the relegation zone. MLS fans may know Wigan as the former side of Roger Espinoza, who just signed back with Sporting Kansas City this week.
It is likely that Liam Ridgewell will miss Timbers training camp, but will be back in time for Portland's annual preseason tournament, formerly known as the Rose City Invitational. The Timbers assure he will be back and ready to go by the season opener on March 7th at Providence Park.