Crawley Town midfielder Liam Kelly has made a permanent transfer to League Two MK Dons after The Red Devils’ promotion to League One.
The 28 year old has spent the last two seasons at Crawley in League Two but he has Championship experience from his time at Reading earlier in his career. At one point he was even picked up by Eredivisie giants Feyenoord but he returned to England permanently after a couple of loan spells with Oxford in League One.
Kelly now joins a growing list of players that have jumped ship following Crawley’s promotion. The likes of Danilo Orsi, Corey Addai and Will Wright have all left for other EFL clubs in addition to Laurence Maguire who decided to join MK Dons earlier in the summer after a successful loan spell with The Red Devils.
How did Kelly perform last season?
The midfield man made 37 league appearances for Crawley last season, scoring four goals and assisting nine more in the process. His performances helped the Sussex club make a late charge for the play-offs, eventually finishing seventh in League Two.
Kelly then started all three play-off games and he became one of the heroes at Wembley when he set up Danilo Orsi for the first goal. He then sealed the win by scoring the second goal as Crawley came out 2-0 winners over Crewe Alexandra.
Scott Lindsey has developed a possession style of play at Crawley and Kelly’s role in the side was crucial. His purpose was to dictate play from the middle of the pitch, though his role in creating goals in the final third can’t be understated either.
Is this a good signing for MK Dons?
Mike Williamson’s style of play is remarkably similar to that of Scott Lindsey’s Crawley which suggests that it would be an easy transition for Kelly to make.
The Dons operated with two technically-gifted holding midfielders last season, namely Lewis Bate and Jack Payne. Both players were loans so Kelly is a like for like replacement in an area where Dons desperately needed a new signing.
In Williamson’s system, the 28 year old will have the opportunity to control the tempo of games, but he will likely be encouraged to join the attacks and pick out the runs of the attacking midfield duo and the lone striker.
Having also captained Crawley on a handful of occasions, Kelly will bring more leadership and responsibility into a side that struggled in the most important games last season.
How does Kelly’s departure impact Crawley?
Kelly was one of the first choice central midfield players for Lindsey’s side so to lose him so easily to a team from the division below is poor form, especially after Crawley beat MK Dons in the play-offs on their way to promotion in the first place.
It seems to be the case that Crawley will entertain offers for any of their players but due to their success last season, it’s created a mass raid of the Sussex club’s players. Kelly’s departure means the loss of a controller in the middle third and those sorts of players can be hard to replace in the lower leagues of the EFL.
As things stand, fellow midfielders Jack Roles and Ben Gladwin are yet to sign new contracts so that could leave Lindsey despairingly short on options in central midfield. Even if both players do re-sign, it seems unlikely they’ll be able to match Kelly’s output without some reinforcements.
Crawley have recently signed Scott Malone, Rushian Hepburn-Murphy and Josh Flint to cover some of the other gaps in their squad but they’re yet to bring in a central midfield player to fill the void that Kelly leaves.