Paris Maghoma didn’t have far to go for plenty of information about his next club and why Wimbledon would be the right move for him.
The 21-year-old midfielder joined us on a season-long loan from Brentford yesterday. Matthew Cox, Mads Bech Sorensen, Jaakko Oksanen and Marcus Forss have all played for both Brentford’s B team and for the Dons in recent years, but one other player in particular gave him a glowing report of life at Plough Lane.
“I signed for Brentford at the same time as Aaron Pressley,” said Paris in his first interview as a Wimbledon player. “He’s a top guy and he loved his time here and told me about it.
“It’s been good to get his advice and his insight on the club, the fans and what the aspirations are. It’s been very good to keep in touch with all of them.
“Speaking with the boys at Brentford who have been here in the past, they told me it’s a good club and there’s the right mentality that they want to push young players and get them involved in league football. That definitely appealed to me.”
Before honing his skills with the Bees, Paris started out at Tottenham. He’s now looking forward to rekindling a midfield partnership with a familiar face, when he enters the home dressing room at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.
“Marshy (George Marsh) is hardworking,” said Paris. “He’s good technically, good on the ball and he’s always going to give one hundred per-cent for the club and for the fans. It’ll be nice to be playing with him again.”
Paris, who has played for England from the under-15s up to and including under-20 level, is the youngest of three footballing brothers in the professional game. He also experienced playing at his new home recently when he came on for Brentford B against a young PSV Eindhoven side, managed by Ruud van Nistelrooy, in a game staged at our venue towards the end of last season.
“A first loan is very important,” said Paris. “I’d say it can make or break you. You’re at that stage where you need to get a run of games to prove to yourself, your parent club and the footballing world in general. It’s definitely a good step and I’m very happy to be at Wimbledon and hopefully I can do my best for the club and for the fans.”
Pic credit: Ian Stephen (Pro Sports Images).
You can listen to the full interview with our new midfielder Paris Maghoma below, via the link to our official YouTube channel.