Lyle Taylor’s return back to AFC Wimbledon was not meant to be, with the Montserrat international now a confirmed player for the 24/25 season at Colchester United.
With this missed signature, it now presents Wimbledon boss Johnnie Jackson with not only questions about not signing Taylor, but also, who he is going to choose as another striking option in his squad.
The Dons will still have plenty of options to choose from with the summer window not yet a month old but may have to pay a fee for any future signing, something they would not have had to do with Taylor.
Why AFC Wimbledon and Johnnie Jackson did not opt to sign Lyle Taylor
There may be a million reasons why the club, Jackson, and Taylor did not choose to reunite and create even more history together, but you do feel that Jackson and the staff at the club may have had doubts surrounding his playing time in recent seasons, and whether he can still be counted on in League Two.
Since 2021, Taylor has not completed more than 20 matches in a season and even missed the entirety of the 2022/23 season, not signing for any club following his release from Nottingham Forest.
He did manage to get some games under his belt in the season just gone, playing for both Wycombe Wanderers and Cambridge United, both of League One.
In his time at both of the clubs, he only scored three times, with all of those strikes coming while he was at Cambridge.
Taylor had expressed at the beginning of June, once knowing that he was leaving the Abbey Stadium, that he was open to rejoining the Dons, something that many Dons fans welcomed, considering what happened the last time the Montserrat international signed.
However, it is now clear that that sentiment was not echoed by the likes of Johnnie Jackson and Director of Football Craig Cope, and now other targets, or possibly other ideas tactically, will now be explored with a big season on the horizon for the Dons.
Possible targets or tactics Johnnie Jackson could now employ
The next question is, who, if anyone, should the Dons select as their fourth striking option for the 2024–2025 season now that Taylor is no longer on the minds of both fans and staff?
If rumours are to be believed, Joe Piggott, another former favorite, is the most recent target who might join the Dons this week.
Piggott, who is now a player for Leyton Orient, may be moving to Wimbledon on loan. Pete O’Rourke and Football Insider both reported on this on Tuesday. When Piggott’s contract at Orient expires in the summer of 2020, the transfer may become permanent.
After departing the Dons in 2021, Jackson has not had the best of times. His stints at Ipswich Town, Portsmouth, and now Orient have not been particularly successful for the 30-year-old, and this may deter Jackson from signing with another fan favorite.
Harry Cardwell from struggling Southend United is a striker who has been far more successful in front of goal, so Jackson and his transfer staff wouldn’t do much better. Since joining the Essex-based team in 2021, the 27-year-old has had a successful stint at the Shrimpers, increasing both his game time and goal total. His best scoring season to date is 23/24.
It would be understandable though if Jackson and Wimbledon do not want to spend all the cash they have recently gained through outgoings and clauses being activated in deals involving former players, and therefore, they could look at Crystal Palace youngster Ademola Ola-Adebomi.
He has been in great form for Palace’s U21 side in recent years, and got his first taste of senior football last term at Burton Albion, where he only scored once in 14 games, with only seven being starts.
While he has not got the goals behind him yet to be considered a great goalscorer, he would be a good pick-up by the Dons, with the club having experienced success with former Palace youngsters Kofi Balmer and John Kymani-Gordon last season, and using their links with the Eagles again to all but secure the signing of Owen Goodman for the 24/25 season, according to reports.
Naturally, Jackson might be content with just three strikers, so there might not be any more acquisitions up front. This could indicate that he is favoring a new system in what he hopes will be a season in which the team wins a promotion.
With Matty Stevens joining Omar Bugiel and Josh Kelly, there might not be space for a fourth option if the former Spurs and Charlton player decides to go to a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 lineup for the upcoming campaign.
All of that, though, is still to be seen because the Dons have been extremely silent regarding transfers thus far. Despite having more money, they have made thoughtful, hand-selected transfers rather than going crazy with spending it all.
Leave a Reply