Wally Downes has moved swiftly in the transfer market to clinch the signing of central midfielder Callum Reilly.

The 25-year-old, who left Gillingham last week after two seasons with the Kent club, signed on the dotted line this afternoon to become Wimbledon’s sixth summer signing.

Reilly scored five goals in 28 appearances for Gills last season, which included starring alongside our new right-back Luke O’Neill in a 4-2 win here in April.

Speaking about the signing, Wally Downes said: “Callum is a good passer of the ball, he’s very mobile, and he is tough-tackling. We’ve got some very good young players, but we needed to make sure that we topped that up with a bit of know-how. Callum has played in the Championship with Birmingham and he’s very ambitious as well. He wants to get his career going again and he thinks we are a progressive club.

“Callum was on our radar as we had him on our database. We got all the reports on him and we were aware of what he could do, but Callum wasn’t available straight away. It’s good that we’ve got him because there were a few clubs after him.”

Born in Warrington, but raised in Solihull, Reilly joined Birmingham City at the age of seven and progressed through the ranks to the first-team, making 66 appearances for the Championship club. He went onto have spells with Burton, Coventry, and Bury, before moving to the Gills.

Shortly after signing for Wimbledon, the 25-year-old said: “For me, it’s about playing and winning games. Being a part of something is also encouraging for me in terms of this club going places. The manager was massive in this after speaking to him, and there’s the new stadium next year, so it was things like that. Feeling wanted is important as well and the manager clearly outlined where he sees me fitting in. I was happy with that and it was a major factor for me.

“I think the manager knows that I’m quite versatile and can do most things in midfield, whether that’s sitting in, or pushing on. I like to try and cover ground, to press high, and try to set a tone through that for the rest of the team, so hopefully I can do that straight away from the start of the season. I already know a couple of players here (Scott Wagstaff and Luke O’Neill), so hopefully we can add to each other’s games and it will work well.”