Mitch Pinnock has left Dover to join AFC Wimbledon.

The 23-year-old midfielder has become the League 1 club's first signing of the close-season and is the the third player to leave Dover in less than a week.

Pinnock made 43 appearances for Whites last season, weighing in with eight goals. The fee will be settled by a tribunal.

The move was announced on Friday afternoon and Pinnock told AFC Wimbledon's website: “There were a few other clubs interested, but I felt AFC Wimbledon was the right club for me.

“They’ve taken players from non-league before and given them chances, I felt it would be good for me to come here and it’s a club going in the right direction.

“Both Jake Leberl (Dover's assistant manager) and Ade Azeez (a team-mate of Pinnock's at Dover last season) had good words to say about the club and Ade in particular chatted to me and said it would be a good move for me.

“ I’m confident in my own ability, but Joe Pigott showed when he made the step up from Maidstone that it can be done.

"There are a lot of players out there that don’t get the chance so I’m really looking forward to the challenge.

“I can’t wait to get started, it’s been a couple of weeks sorting everything out, but I can’t wait to get out there and start playing some football. The club has come such a long way in a short space of time and I just want to be a part of it.”

AFC Wimbledon first team coach Simon Bassey added: “We’re delighted to get Mitch over the line. It had been on-going for a while and another League 1 club were interested in him, but he showed a real desire to join Wimbledon and we’re really pleased to get the deal done.

“We’re looking to bring attacking players into the squad and Mitch has done really well for Dover, especially over the last year or so. We’d tracked him for the last seven months and hopefully he’ll bring a lot of good qualities to the team.

“He’s a good athlete, tall, he can cover the ground, get around the pitch and he’s versatile. He can play in numerous positions off the right and off the left.

“I’ve spoken to Jake Leberl about him over the past week to find out more about his character, we’ve had scouts watch him and I went to see him myself. He’s got a good background and we’re really pleased to give him a second chance."

Pinnock started his career at Arsenal as a youngster before moving onto Southend United. He has also previously played for Bromley, Tonbridge Angels and Maidstone United.

Earlier this week striker Ryan Bird, Dover's top scorer last season, switched to Maidenhead while centre-half Manny Parry moved to Boreham Wood.

Whites chairman Jim Parmenter said on his club's website: “We’re a bit disappointed that there has been no contact and that we haven’t been able to avoid another tribunal, but we have been very successful in demonstrating our development of players in recent cases and are confident of a positive outcome.”