AFC Wimbledon must take action to make sure talented star doesn't leave in 2025 | OneFootball

James Tilley has been brilliant for Wimbledon at left wing-back this season, but the club will need to renew his deal to avoid losing a key player

Coming into the 2024/25 season, it seemed as though James Tilley was not going to be such a prominent feature in the AFC Wimbledon starting XI.

Having ended the previous season poorly, combined with a formational and tactical change from boss Johnnie Jackson, the former Brighton and Hove Albion youth product was set to be a bit-part player in the side.

However, when given the chance to shine due to squad rotation, he has done just that, and now, with his deal expiring at the end of this campaign, the Dons need to act quickly to avoid outside interest building and the potential of a cut-price sale in January or a free transfer next summer occurring.

James Tilley: Position swap has been brilliant for club and player

As mentioned, in the second half of the 23/24 campaign, Tilley had turned into a shadow of the player he had been when starting out at Wimbledon.

Within the opening two months of the season, he had scored all seven of his league goals for the campaign, and would only add another five across three different cup competitions in the early part of the season, meaning from November onwards, he did not score again.

He quickly became an unreliable option off the bench too, and certainly became a player that some fans would have happily seen the back of over the summer, if it meant the Dons made a quick buck.

However, despite the overall negative opinion that some held of Tilley, the opinion that mattered most was that of Jackson, and the former Charlton captain chose to stick with Tilley and try and rework his game so that he would fit into gameplans for 24/25.

Over pre-season, Tilley was rarely used in his current left wing-back position, instead taking up the advanced, attacking role on the left of the midfield three. However, with mixed results came mixed performances, and once again, it felt as though the Irishman was a square peg in a round hole.

What was even more concerning for Tilley was the effectiveness of James Furlong and Aron Sasu as the pair at left wing-back. Both looked like they were a class above and were very able to rotate in and out of the position as and when needed.

However, when injury struck Sasu in August, Tilley was handed a brilliant opportunity to reinstate himself in Jackson's plans, and make it impossible for Furlong, who is on loan from Hull City but similarly started off at Brighton, to get back in the team.

He took this opportunity and ran away with it, starting with an excellent defensive display versus Ipswich Town in the Carabao Cup.

Facing the prospect of defending against Jack Clarke, who had just moved to the Tractor Boys from Sunderland at that point, Tilley kept the youngster extremely quiet and even when a fresh-legged Omari Hutchinson entered the fray, the former Grimsby Town loanee made sure to keep his influence on the game to an absolute minimum.

Not only did he do brilliantly defensively, but when allowed the chance to break forward, he did, and made sure to create dangerous opportunities for the Dons, even if there was no assist or goal to show for it.

And while performances have carried on in this vein, the goal contribution column has finally sprung into life, with the now 26-year-old scoring his first goal this campaign, and competitively for almost a year, in the recent midweek fixture against Morecambe FC.

Having received the ball on the halfway line, the wing-back took himself on a mazy run through the opposition defence before slotting home a fantastic shot into the top right-hand corner.

It was the spark that the game needed and showed that, despite his new task as a more defensive player, he still has the ability to do the spectacular and will always remain a creative outlet for the team.

Wimbledon should renew now to avoid Pigott, Taylor history being repeated.

While there are no indicators as to whether clubs elsewhere are interested in Tilley, if his current form in his newly-found position continues, then it will be more than likely that sides from League Two, and possibly above, may come sniffing around.

And if the Dons do not choose to take the further year extension that the Irishman has in his current deal and let him depart on a free transfer, then it will be yet another top quality player that leaves the club for nothing.

Despite a few seasons of departures of good players for fees, there have still been players that have left the club following the expiry of their deals that Wimbledon could have easily got a decent fee for.

Joe Pigott's departure back in 2021 is the highest profile case in recent years, but stretching back further, the likes of Lyle Taylor and Tom Elliott both left the Dons on free transfers when the club could, and arguably should, have sold them for a fair chunk of cash to spend on a replacement.

However, this is a new-look Wimbledon, and, for the most part, the club now seem set on letting their first-team quality players only leave for a fair fee. For example, the likes of Jack Rudoni, Ayoub Assal and Ali Al-Hamadi have all been moved on in recent years, despite their importance to the team, for fees which have then been reinvested into good players that help replace the departed.

The January transfer window could be a busy window for Johnnie Jackson and his team then, with a few key players seeing their current deals end at the culmination of this campaign, so it may be a case of renewing and keeping what is turning out to be a great squad of players together, or cash in and try and bring in like-for-like replacements.

Whatever decision is ultimately made with Tilley between now and the end of the season, it cannot be ignored that, when playing at left wing-back, he is at the very top of his game and looks extremely comfortable and confident.

And while that may just simply be down to Johnnie Jackson and the current feel of the squad at Wimbledon, there is no ignoring the fact that James Tilley is going to be one of the best, and possibly most underrated, player in the league this season, no matter where the Dons end up.