AFC Wimbledon

Alan Reeves bolsters squad with arrival of Christian Toonga

Alan Reeves believes he has made a key addition to his Under-21 squad for next season after midfielder Christian Toonga signed a professional contract at AFC Wimbledon.

Seventeen-year-old Christian, who spent eight years with Arsenal’s academy until the age of 16 and has since had spells with Southampton and Cardiff City, enjoyed a successful trial with our development squad at the end of last season.

The central midfielder impressed enough to convince Alan Reeves that he is a player of rich potential for the future.

Speaking during an interview for Dons Player, Alan said: “We wanted to see Christian over a long period of seven to eight weeks at the end of last season. He never looked out of place when training with the first-team and he impressed in most of the games for the Under-21s. Christian is younger than Ben Harrison, Dan Gallagher and Ryan Sweeney so he needs to come out of his shell a bit more. He is not small and is a good build, but as a central midfielder he needs to dominate a bit more and pull people around, but that will come.

“Christian was a bit homesick at Cardiff and with Neal Ardley’s history at Cardiff he got the heads up there was a good player who was not happy. We have had a look at him and we think we have signed a decent player. He should complement Dan Gallagher well in central midfield. They are both different players. Dan is a right-footer and is more about hustle and bustle, but Christian is a left-footer who is more elegant.”

Speaking during an interview with Rob Cornell for Dons Player, Christian said: “I am pleased to have signed here because I have seen that young players get a chance. There are some good youngsters here and they were given minutes for the first-team last season. That makes me feel that there may be a chance for me too. I am looking forward to getting started in pre-season and hopefully pushing on.”