MK Dons have signed defender Laurence Maguire on a permanent contract following his loan stint with Crawley Town, as confirmed via a statement on the club’s website.
The 27-year-old spent the vast majority of the 2023/24 season with Crawley Town on loan from National League champions Chesterfield and helped to guide the Red Devils to an unexpected promotion back to League One, but has since announced his exit from both Crawley and Chesterfield.
How did Maguire fair last season?
Within the fourth tier, Maguire made 34 league appearances for Crawley Town operating as both a centre-back and left-back for the club.
During that time, Maguire scored three goals for Crawley which arrived against Newport County, Sutton United and Stockport Country on his debut.
Maguire will be off familiarity to MK Dons supporters as a result of his red card against them during a league clash in December as well as featuring during Crawley’s 8-1 victory against the Dons over the two play-off semi-final matches.
Is this a good move for MK Dons?
During the 2023/24 League Two campaign, Maguire proved that he had the ability to perform well in the fourth tier despite spending the last few seasons in the National League.
MK Dons’ play-off campaign proved that Mike Williamson still has work to do if he is to be the man that takes the football club back to the third tier and adding another defender will give them an improvement of quality within the defence area of the team.
Third through the door
The arrival of Laurence Maguire is MK Dons’ third summer signing so far, following the arrivals of Crewe defender Luke Offord and Stockport midfielder Connor Lemonheigh-Evans.
All three signings have experience at the top end of League Two, with each player featuring in the play-offs within the last two seasons.
These signings also operate through the middle of the MK Dons team, which suggests that Mike Williamson is placing a large focus on improving the spine of the side before focusing on other areas of the pitch.