Cheltenham Town favourites to upgrade their squad to Beast Mode

He may have fired home the penalty that clinched AFC Wimbledon’s play-off final victory over Plymouth Argyle yesterday, but Adebayo Akinfenwa has already parted company with the Dons, with Cheltenham Town leading the race to capture ‘the Beast’.

A nightmare for defenders, the imposing former Gillingham hitman netted eight times in the 2015-16 season, including crucial strikes in the play-off semi-final and final, to send the Dons into League One – but now he’s looking for a new club.

Following the Wombles’ Wembley triumph, the 34-year-old told interested managers to “hit me up on Whatsapp”, and it seems his comments caught the attention of one opposition manager.

And while we can’t confirm that old-school Robins’ gaffer Gary Johnson has ever used the popular messaging app for so much as a badly-lit selfie, he is the frontrunner to snap up the free agent at 3/1.

Fellow League Two newboys Grimsby Town are 5/1 to bring the sizeable striker to Blundell Park.

There are a trio of suitors at 7s – Crawley, Wycombe Wanderers, and Plymouth Argyle – while it’s 20/1 that he makes a hugely controversial move to his latest club’s fierce rivals, MK Dons.

Liverpool round out the betting, with Akinfenwa 100/1 to realise the dream of playing for his boyhood idols. No doubt many Liverpool fans would tip him to net a few more goals at Anfield than current target-man Christian Benteke has mustered.

A Ladbrokes spokesman said: “We could see Johnson and the Beast become the most memorable pairing of next season which would certainly be a fairytale for Cheltenham fans.”

“Meanwhile, Akinfenwa would turn from cult hero to ultimate villain at Wimbledon if he heads to Milton Keynes this summer.”

Ladbrokes Latest Betting:

Adebayo Akinfenwa – Next Club Odds

Cheltenham – 3/1

Grimsby – 5/1

Crawley – 7/1

Wycombe – 7/1

Plymouth – 7/1

Portsmouth – 10/1

Leyton Orient – 10/1

Luton – 10/1

Northampton – 12/1

Eastleigh – 12/1

Gillingham – 16/1

MK Dons – 20/1

Liverpool – 100/1

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.