Who is MK Dons’ latest signing Connor Wickham?

Connor Wickham hopes to rekindle his career at MK Dons after an injury-ravaged few years.

The 28-year-old has played just two games since the summer of 2020, both coming for Preston North End in September this season. He penned a short-term deal with the Lilywhites but was released earlier this month.

His career to date has seen him rack up 250 appearances and 52 goals in the Championship and the Premier League.

Beginning his career at Ipswich, made his debut for the Tractor Boys in April 2009 and became their youngest ever player at the time, aged 16 and 11 days.

Wickham established himself as the side's leading man within a couple of years, with his performances at Portman Road prompting Premier League Sunderland to part with more than £8 million for his services in June 2011. It was not only Ipswich's biggest outgoing transfer fee, but also was the highest fee received by an EFL side from a Premier League club.

But after signing for the Black Cats, Wickham fell down the pecking order when manager Martin O'Neill took over, and spent most of his first campaign at the Stadium of Light on the bench.

After a loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday, Wickham returned to Sunderland and played against Dons in the remarkable 4-2 League Cup win, when he scored twice and set another up as Sunderland came from 2-0 down to score four in the final 20 minutes.

Two more loan spells away from Sunderland followed in 2013/14 as he lined up once again for Wednesday and then Leeds but by the following season, Wickham was a regular in the north east. Making 36 appearances in the top flight in 2014/15, his six goals not only helped keep Sunderland up but also earned him a move to Crystal Palace for the following season for a fee believed to be around £7 million.

But it was at Selhurst Park where injuries began to hamper his progress. A knee injury in 2016 ruled him out for almost two years. A third loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday followed in January 2020, where he played regular football during project restart for the Owls.

Wickham returned to Selhurst Park for 2020/21 but injuries destroyed his season and he failed to make a single appearance for the Eagles before he was released at the end of the season.

Picked up by Preston at the start of this term, Wickham signed a short-term deal which came to an end last week though injuries again hampered his progress at Deepdale, limiting him to just two games.