Mark Robinson believes that the Dons have signed an "exciting young talent" after Alfie Bendle committed his future to the club.
After being recommended to Robbo, Alfie has made a huge impression with his ability in the centre of the park - and he signed a pro deal on his 17th birthday earlier this week. The picture above shows Alfie with our Chief Executive Joe Palmer (left) and his agent Darren Freeman.
Robbo said: “It’s great news for the club - and I would like to think it will be great news for Alfie as well. We’re really pleased as he’s an exciting young talent. It’s not the sort of signing that would have happened, I believe, before at this club.
"We’ve had to fight to keep our own best academy players and make them believe there’s a pathway. Now we’ve got young players coming to us, even though they had choices of joining so called bigger clubs."
On plans to develop Alfie's talents, who previously played academy football at Brighton & Hove Albion, Robbo added:
"We’ve got a real plan for Alfie, like we have for all the young players. With Alfie, he’s physically well developed, so he’s a lad that needs a challenge and we have a plan to get him into our first-team as quickly as possible. One of the reasons I like him is because he loves to smash people! He’s tough for his age and I remember in one of his early sessions we were doing set pieces and he cleared the ball with a diving header and almost got a boot in the head! That’s the stuff that attracted me, as well as the technical ability.”
After signing his pro deal, Alfie said: "It’s a dream come true. As a youngster all I wanted to be was a footballer. Signing for Wimbledon on my birthday is a great time for me. I was getting quite a lot of attention, but since I’ve been at Wimbledon I’ve always felt like this is the place to be, especially as there is a lot of trust in the young players coming through the academy.
"Robbo has been unreal for me. He’s kind of set me up perfectly, as a manager who has got real trust in youngsters. You can see it in our first team most weeks, it’s full of youngsters that play with no fear, which is perfect! Hopefully I can kick on and push into the first-team and help the club push on. No matter what, I want to achieve as much as I can whilst I’m here and see where it takes me.”
Pics: Ian Stephen.