Bristol City, Huddersfield, Middlesbrough & Portsmouth transfer target becomes available for free

A path to a transfer target from the summer of 2021 has been made easier after the player chose to leave their club on a free transfer
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Bristol City are free to sign defender Nesta Guinness-Walker after he chose to leave AFC Wimbledon following the end of his contract.

Guinness-Walker was offered new terms by the team just relegated to League Two but he has opted to leave Plough Lane for a new challenge.

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The 22-year-old began his senior career with the Metropolitan Police before a move to Dons after coming through the academies of Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

During his time with the South London club, he made more than 90 appearances, creating five goals and also getting on the scoresheet on three occasions.

Along with the speculation about him leaving, Guinness-Walker's place in the side wasn't as guaranteed when former Bristol Rovers defender Lee Brown arrived. He often found himself on the substitutes bench and in the final three games of the campaign, he failed to make an appearance.

Now he has the task of finding a new club with every Football League team now back in pre-season training and already playing some fixtures.

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The left-back was a rumoured target last summer with Huddersfield Town and Middlesbrough also said to have had an interest in the player according to reports.

League One outfit Portsmouth had also been linked but the Hampshire side passed on the opportunity to sign him in the January window.

Should this latest development prompt City into making a move for the defender remains to be seen. Guinness-Walker was on an ‘internal club watch list’ but in January, but there was no motivation to follow up on that interest.

There is a desire however to bring more bodies in to provide strength in depth in what was a small squad last year though deals will not take place for the sake of it and the finances must be right for the club’s business this window.

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Jay Dasilva is the first choice when it comes to choosing a left-sided player to play in that wing-back role. Cameron Pring can also play there but he was also deployed as a centre-back last season, however he failed to feature towards the end of the campaign.

So far, Nigel Pearson has not been afraid to look to the lower leagues to bring in players with both Kane Wilson and Mark Sykes signed from divisions below the Championship and on a free transfer.

They had had an interest in centre-back Fraser Horsfall too who was a free agent after leaving Northampton Town but he opted to make the move to League Two newcomers Stockport County.

Guinness-Walker’s Wimbledon teammate Jack Rudoni has also been linked with a move to Ashton Gate. Rudoni is wanted by a handful of Championship clubs but so far the London club have held firm, rejecting numerous offers.

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