Jackson masterclass: AFC Wimbledon's dark horse squad will be completed with 2 additions | OneFootball

Dons boss Jackson has performed extremely well this summer in the transfer window, and his squad is only two key signings from being complete

AFC Wimbledon's performance in this summer's transfer window, since gaining promotion to League One at Wembley in May, was always going to be under a lot of scrutiny.

And that is because, after a three-year hiatus, the Dons make a return to the third tier with the aim of surviving in a much tougher division than they left back in 2022.

But quite impressively, Johnnie Jackson has worked minor miracles and not been forced to reinvent the wheel to collect a squad that is now only two key signings away from having a very good chance at overperforming next season.

This summer is Johnnie Jackson's best at AFC Wimbledon

While it is a bold statement to make, it really is true that the performance from Jackson in the transfer market is the best that we've seen from the former Tottenham Hotspur youngster at the helm with the Dons.

His previous windows were about building up squads that he felt capable of taking a challenge to promotion in League Two, while ensuring that existing players at the club were involved too.

But last summer was when he was finally able to make his mark as Wimbledon boss and build an entire squad of players that were truly his and were not shoehorned into any plans. And it's fair to say that allowing him to do so was more than successful considering events after the season's end of last campaign.

So why is this summer now earmarked as his best summer, and why is it not the summer before? Well, simply put, he has kept his squad together and made extremely sensible, but brilliant signings for the team in the short term, and long term too.

Sometimes, transfer windows are not all about splurging all the money given to a manager on an entire new team, as tempting as that may be with promotion. Instead, they are best taken with a slow, methodical approach that gives you the ability to maintain large amounts of a unit whose chemistry is flowing and pumping throughout each and every player, while adding the absolute necessities to the squad.

At the end of last season, the players that many felt could not be replaced in the team, looking at what was available to Wimbledon in their price range, were Marcus Browne, Alistair Smith and Ryan Johnson, to name only a few. While not standout performers every week, they all added to the squad and only made it better with their presence, whether that be on or off the pitch.

So when it was announced that, even with a budget that sees them comfortably last in League One, all three were signing on to multi-year contracts with the club, even with the likelihood of relegation, it started to look like Jackson was performing well above the level he achieved last summer with his collection of signings, and is now on his way to setting the Dons up extremely well for life in the third tier.

And with further renewals and signings since, Jackson has certainly made the most of what has been given to him this summer.

Yes, the losses of Josh Neufville and James Tilley, plus any non-returning loanees, will have naturally hurt, but any and all losses will likely have a succession plan behind them regarding who is the ideal replacement, and in the case of James Tilley, that has already been found with Steve Seddon.

Two further signings needed: AFC Wimbledon must target Daniel Kanu and Gus Scott-Morriss

So with the succession plan well under way to replace those that have left the club, what business is there left to do for Jackson and his team?

Well, despite having the likes of Aron Sasu and Isaac Ogundere to cover the right wing-back slot, the Dons do need an experienced head in that position that can add both offensively and defensively.

Bring forward Southend United's Gus Scott-Morriss. The Shrimpers' top scorer from last season, the 28-year-old would be making his first leap into EFL football if he is signed by Jackson and Wimbledon.

However, despite the lack of top-level experience, he brings plenty of know-how of playing in a system very similar to Jackson's, to great success too. Marauding up and down the right-hand side at Roots Hall and elsewhere in the National League, his signature just makes for the Dons, especially as a senior player would be perfect to mentor the likes of Sasu and Ogundere as they continue to grow into their billing as hot prospects at the club.

And talking of hot prospects, Charlton Athletic's Daniel Kanu, who is highly thought of at another of Jackson's former clubs, should be the final forward for the Dons boss to add to his attacking lineup.

Last season, four strikers of differing attributes were rotated by Jackson to little success, as despite Matty Stevens excelling, the three others, messrs Omar Bugiel, Joe Pigott and Josh Kelly, scraped together less than half of the former Forest Green Rovers man's tally between them.

This coming season it does seem that Jackson will go for that setup up front again, but adding Kanu may be exactly the player the Dons were lacking last year.

In Pigott, the Dons felt they had the predatory instincts of Stevens, with the faint idea of a similar physique to Omar Bugiel. This, however, proved to be untrue, and instead the club were left with a liability up front, who was only saved from complete embarrassment thanks to his status at the club.

With Kanu, though, there are the raw attributes of all three current strikers, and with Charlton wanting Kanu to develop on his brief glimpses of quality last season in the third tier, handing him over to Jackson will only be a positive, and certainly give the Dons firepower that will certainly serve them well.

And from those two aforementioned players, there are not too many more that need to be added to the list for the Dons. Squad depth will, of course, be very useful, given how injuries can occur at any time, but for the time being, it really does seem that Jackson has got it spot on with his additions, and now full focus can go into preparing for some of the Dons' early challenges on the pitch, rather than bolstering off of it.