Watters was a target for Dons in January

Striker Max Watters might have been an MK Dons player in January but got outbid by Cardiff City while he was at Crawley Town.

The 22-year-old joined Russell Martin's side on loan yesterday (Thursday) from the Bluebirds, but they wanted him in the previous transfer window. At that point, Watters had been one of League Two's hottest properties as he scored 16 goals in 19 outings for Crawley.

While Zak Jules and Harry Darling made the move from the fourth tier to Stadium MK, Watters instead went to the Championship with Cardiff after a move understood to be worth £1m.

Limited to just three outings for the Welsh side though, Dons were able to rekindle their interest in the striker, and sign him for the 2021/22 season.

Sporting Director Liam Sweeting said: “It’s well known that we previously tried to sign Max in January but his outstanding form with Crawley saw him jump straight to the Championship. In that period, he showed exactly what he can bring to a team - his movement, anticipation and focus is all about getting in behind and scoring goals.

“Meeting him yesterday, we saw how excited he is to get going under Russ and begin learning our style of play. We look forward to, hopefully, creating many goal-scoring opportunities for him here at Stadium MK.

“We are really pleased to welcome Max to MK Dons and I’d like to thank Mick McCarthy and Cardiff City for trusting us with his development this season."