AFC Wimbledon’s newest recruit Osman Foyo certainly looks like a formidable prospect following his performances in the National League South for Chelmsford City in the first half of this season.
The forward has got pace to burn and seems to be powerful and strong too. However, Wimbledon will be his first step into full-time professional men’s football, and because of that, it may take him some time to get up to speed.
One of the last times the Dons took a gamble on a speedy winger, Dylan Connolly, it did not turn out too well for the club or the player. The hope is that lessons have been learned.
He joined the club from Irish side Dundalk, for an undisclosed fee, reported to be in the region of €35k, and had helped them win a league and cup double prior to joining up with the Dons.
So there was plenty of excitement about the promise that he could bring to the struggling team at that point in time, with the hope that his blistering pace and good goalscoring stats could carry over to the EFL.
However, after a few appearances on the bench, it was quite clear to see that there was some confusion over where Connolly would hopefully cement his spot in the team, and where exactly his best position was for the club.
He had played on both flanks during the early stages of his career, but as Downes’ system did not really incorporate wingers, he was more or less used as a free-playing attacker that was simply on the pitch to terrify tiring opposition defences late on in games.
And while this was a mildly successful way of playing the Irishman, it meant that he very rarely got the chance to nail down a position. When, out of his 15 appearances, he was given a rare start, it was clear to see that his confidence had sunk due to not being allowed a great number of minutes.
It was due to this that, at the start of the following season, 2019/20, he was shipped out on loan to Bradford City. Clearly there were problems integrating him into the squad and entrusting him with more game time.
However, even at Valley Parade, he did not look to be developing any more than he had down south in London. He would score his first goal in English football while there, but it was clear this was more of a loan move to place the winger in the shop window than to develop him and bring him back a better player.
Frustratingly for Wimbledon fans, there was never an opportunity to see what Connolly could go on to do as player for the club after Downes had departed, as following his season at Bradford, which was interrupted by the global pandemic, he was released by the club with Glyn Hodges, the Dons’ new manager and part of Downes’ backroom team, clearly not keen on taking him back into the squad and working out a way to develop him into the promising player he looked like he could be when he first signed.
Connolly would go on to have underwhelming spells with Northampton Town and Morecambe, and an average season with St Mirren too, following his measly 15 appearances in yellow and blue.
He has not been seen on English shores since 2023, when he and Morecambe mutually decided to cancel his contract, as he instead decided to head back over to Ireland and has played for Bohemians, as well as Glentoran, where he has racked nearly 50 appearances across the two, but not scored a single goal.
While it is very easy to say that, naturally, with different managers should come different ways of incorporating young and exciting players, there are still some things that need to be done by current boss Johnnie Jackson if he is to avoid repeating Connolly’s overall poor transfer and spell with the club with new man Foyo.
First and foremost, he needs to have a clear and direct plan for Foyo to allow both the player to develop and fulfill the promise seen in him, but also so that the club can reap the benefits in the short and long term.
If he wants to incorporate the youngster, who the Dons signed from Ipswich Town in the last week of the transfer window, then it will be best done by firstly giving him some gametime off the bench, but then also allowing him some starts in his most favourable position, to make sure that he displays his strongest talents, and not just his useful assets.
Most likely that will mean giving him some time to play upfront, presumably on the left-hand side of the Dons’ attacking trio, but in the future, he may also be crafted into an out-and-out striker that can be an extremely useful asset for the club, with both height and pace on his side.
That does, however, leave a question mark over where it leaves academy graduate Aron Sasu, who is seen, mainly by the fanbase, as one of the next big attacking prospects out of the academy, as the Norweigan youth international plays the same position as Foyo.
What’s important, is that the club learn from past mistakes and make sure that their Ipswich import gets a proper chance at Plough Lane.
