AFC Wimbledon may regret not taking advantage of Bolton, Reading and Hull interest: View | OneFootball

Zach Robinson's time at AFC Wimbledon has not gone as many Dons fans, and perhaps himself, would have wanted.

A young starlet who impressed well at academy level, seeing good form rewarded with his first professional deal in 2020, he was never given a true opportunity in the first team at Plough Lane.

The now 22-year-old has departed the club this summer on a free transfer but there will be a feeling by many connected to the club that Wimbledon and Johnnie Jackson should have capitalised on the interest that was being taken in Robinson back in 2023.

Where did Bolton, Reading, Hull interest came after Scottish loan

The interest in Robinson, first reported by South London Press, came thanks to a handy loan spell spent in Scotland.

He had been set to leave the club for free in 2022, but upon after Jackson joined as manager, he convinced the then-promising youngster to extend his stay, getting him to agree to a new two-year deal.

Many Dons fans at the time thought that this was a statement of intent from the new boss, with the striker seemingly having faith placed in him to play more of a role going into the 22/23 season.

However, Jackson would instead send the striker out on loan to Dundee FC, then in the Scottish Championship, allowing him to prove himself with an eye to using him in the Wimbledon first team if the loan was a success.

The temporary spell away did work wonders for the Englishman's confidence, with the then 20-year-old gaining more first team minutes, having made his breakthrough late on in the 21/22 season, and even beginning to score consistent amounts of goals. By the end of the loan spell, he had 12 goals in 29 appearances in the Scottish second tier.

Throughout the majority of his loan spell, there were many calls to actually bring him back to South West London from Wimbledon fans, as the club struggled in front of goal. Upon returning in the summer of 2022, a large majority of the fanbase wanted to see one of their own given a chance to cement himself in the team and become yet another successful academy graduate playing senior football at Plough Lane.

Along with these calls from the fanbase, came the aforementioned interest, however, from the likes of Bolton and Reading, both in League One at this point, and Hull City of the Championship. Looking back now, this interest should perhaps have been cashed in on.

Robinson contract expiry shows Wimbledon truly missed chance to cash in

That season where Robinson excelled has long gone now, however, and instead, the Dons are faced with the hard fact that they have just had to release a player who, about a year ago, was attracting major interest and could have easily made them a decent amount of money.

The motivation behind the release can maybe be traced back to the unknown reason as to why Robinson was once again sent out on loan to Dundee again instead of being tested in the first team over the past season.

What it does certainly prove though, is that holding onto a tradable commodity last summer was the worst thing Jackson and Wimbledon could have done.

This season has seen Robinson's stock plummet fast, with the striker not having the same impact at Dundee as before, struggling with injuries and finding it difficult to replicate his good form from 22/23.

The striker has been very open about his release from the club he has been at since he was 15 and told all in a recent interview with South London Press.

He said "The last couple of years haven’t gone exactly how I would have maybe expected or hoped, but it’s part of the game.

"I wasn’t given the best opportunity, but that’s how it goes. People will want to say what they want to say about why, but football is a game of opinions.

“I have no hard feelings about it – I understand that side of the game. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out the way I would have wanted it to, but it doesn’t taint my image of Wimbledon at all.”

It definitely is disappointing to see an academy graduate not given a fair chance when he has shown such great amounts of promise both in academy football, and in fleeting appearances in the first team, but what it has shown is that Wimbledon, for all their savvy in making good money from transfer dealings in recent windows, really did make a huge mistake in letting Robinson leave for nothing this summer.