Ipswich Town deal rewarded AFC Wimbledon for transfer gamble | OneFootball

AFC Wimbledon reaped the rewards of signing Ali Al-Hamadi after selling him to Ipswich Town.

The relatively unheard of Ali Al-Hamadi arrived at Plough Lane in 2023 on a free transfer. Little did AFC Wimbledon know this would prove to be one of their best signings in recent years.

The man from Maysan endured a tough time at Wycombe Wanderers, where he found match minutes hard to come by. This led to him making the move to Wimbledon in January 2023, which would certainly prove to be the right decision.

The Dons took a gamble on singing the unknown youngster, which has paid off massively for both parties. Al-Hamadi is now a Premier League player, and his former side are mounting a promotion charge in League Two.

Al-Hamadi had to bide his time before finding success

The young forward made his way through the ranks at Tranmere Rovers and Swansea City in his youth career, before signing his first professional deal with the Swans in 2020. He also had a trial at Derby County the following year, which ultimately didn't land him a gig with the Rams.

He would go on to have a successful trial at Wycombe though, landing a contract at Adams Park which initially saw him link up with their B team. A strong loan spell with Bromley put Al-Hamadi in great stead to break into the first-team at Wycombe, but this wouldn't be the case sadly.

He struggled for minutes under Gareth Ainsworth and didn't manage to particularly catch the eye when he did play. On a cold December evening in Plymouth, the attacker failed to impress and was replaced with fellow youngster Tjay De-Barr. This would be the beginning of the end for Al-Hamadi, as his colleague impressed the boss to push the Iraqi further down the pecking order.

When the January window rolled around, Al-Hamadi was free to find a new home. He joined AFC Wimbeldon in League Two, for what was initially a free transfer, but the Chairboys had an invested interest. It was a good thing they did, as nobody could've foreseen what the ex-Swansea forward would go on to do.

Wimbledon's gamble on Al-Hamadi paid off big time

It took the attacker a month to find his feet in League Two with his first goal, but once he did, the goals didn't stop coming. He was named EFL Young Player of the Month in March 2023, after his electric form for the Dons.

By the end of the 2023-24 campaign, Al-Hamadi had notched 10 goals in 19 league appearances for Johnnie Jackson's side, which was seriously impressive considering he'd only been at the club for half a season. This goalscoring form had certainly left any disappointments of his time with Wycombe in the dust.

Plenty of clubs were monitoring the then 21-year-old, but the real test would be whether he could keep up his form the following season. He did just that, netting a hat-trick against his former youth club, Tranmere, on his way to 13 goals in the first-half of the season. By now, clubs were queuing up to secure Al-Hamadi's signature.

Championship side Ipswich Town were the ones lucky enough to snap him up from the Dons, in a deal that was reportedly worth around £1m. Whilst an unknown amount was due to head to Buckinghamshire, it's fair to say that Wimbledon's gamble to bring the striker in paid off, as they'd make a huge profit by selling him to the Tractor Boys.

His time at Portman Road has been largely unsuccessful thus far, but with Town securing promotion to the Premier League, it was unlikely that Al-Hamadi would be able to adapt from League Two to the top flight overnight.

This gamble from the Dons not only helped the Iraq international get his career back on track and achieve his dream of becoming a Premier League player, it also brought plenty of money to Wimbledon, which has allowed them to mount a promotion challenge this season.