Neal Ardley has beaten off competition from other clubs to land experienced midfielder Liam Trotter.
The 28-year-old, who has enjoyed three promotions in his career so far, most recently at Bolton Wanderers last season, scored against AFC Wimbledon at the Cherry Red Records Stadium last season.
Having also last week captured Jimmy Abdou – a former team-mate of Liam's at Millwall – Neal is delighted with his latest addition.
"It was a strange one really because we felt we would not be able to bring both of them in," said Neal. "We wanted to go for one proven (midfielder) and we felt that signing Jimmy would happen quicker. Liam had a lot of interest from other clubs that he was weighing up so we went for Jimmy, but further down the line we realised we could have a crack at going for Liam. We are obviously delighted we have got him and to get both of them. They formed an incredible partnership at Millwall a few years back and they complement each other well.
"When Liam went to Scunthorpe (on trial) they wanted him to go to Austria and to make a decision at the end of the week, but he was not sure that going three or four weeks into pre-season with no club was the right thing to do. There were other clubs that did make offers to Liam and they were chasing him up.
"It got to the point earlier in the week when we had to decide whether or not to have a crack at it. We could not afford what another club was offering, but Liam decided that our project was what he wanted to be a part of. For us to get a player who has played over 200 games in the Championship, I hope our fans appreciate it. These players are in a market and we are doing well to get them – we cannot afford a Ronaldo or a Messi!"
A clip of Liam's interview for iFollow can be viewed on our official You Tube channel via the link below.
Liam started his career with Ipswich Town – winning the FA Youth Cup with his hometown club - and he enjoyed a successful loan spell with Scunthorpe United, helping The Iron to promotion. Following a loan stint at Millwall, he joined them permanently in 2010 and helped them to promotion, before signing for Bolton in 2014.
All at AFC Wimbledon welcome Liam to the club and an exclusive interview is available on our iFollow channel.