New backing did not alter MK Dons' wishlist late in transfer window

Fahad Al GhanimFahad Al Ghanim
Fahad Al Ghanim | Jane Russell
Sporting Director Liam Sweeting discussed the way MK Dons’ new owners gave them a new approach to the transfer window

The new ownership group taking over MK Dons gave the club more muscle but did not alter who they were chasing in the last few weeks of the transfer window.

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Fahad Al Ghanim’s Kuwait-based consortium took over from Pete Winkelman on the eve of the new season, and immediately confirmed the purchase of Aaron Nemane from Notts County. But the winger was Dons’ 12th signing of the window at that stage, with the majority of the recruitment work done ahead of the takeover.

While Dons made three more signings before the window closed - Kane Thompson-Sommers, Sonny Finch and Joe White - all were done on deadline day.

Sporting Director Liam Sweeting admitted while they were given more financial backing from the new owners in the window, the people they were after did not hugely stray off their targeted lists, and that those they did not land remain on those wishlists.

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“There are some players we discussed with other clubs but were too difficult to get done, but they remain targets, to continuously monitor and see what happens.

“We're always looking to attract players who can play at a higher level. Things that change are the fees, but we've always been competitive in that aspect, but the ceiling will raise a bit there. The window ended as it did though because we weren't going to be pushed into anything we didn't think was reasonable. Other clubs have this same issue, but we'll be sensible with it.

“We had a few weeks of the transfer window with new owners, and that felt like a new window in itself where we were able to look at what the squad was missing which we might not have been able to approach before.“

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Even without the new backing, Sweeting admitted selling Max Dean to Belgian side KAA Gent, and their sell-on clause in Celtic’s Matt O’Riley as he moved to Premier League Brighton all helped give Dons some clout, though the change of ownership gave them another boost.

He continued: “We were trying to be ambitious anyway - we had the Max Dean sale, we knew things were circling with Matt O'Riley, so I was really happy with the window even before the new owners came in.

“When you're in League Two, you're not changing the dial that significantly. But what it was able to do was to raise the ceiling a bit, where under Pete we'd hit the roof.

“People like Joe White, Aaron Nemane were able to come in towards the end of the window to add certain qualities we needed.”

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