New Luton Town signing George Johnston has revealed how a phone call from Jack Wilshere while he was celebrating promotion in Ibiza with Bolton helped convince him to join the Hatters.
The defender became Luton’s first summer signing after leaving Wanderers, having captained the club to promotion from League One last season via the play-offs.
Johnston admitted he was enjoying the celebrations with his former team-mates when Wilshere made contact, but said the conversation played a key role in making Luton his preferred destination.
“It’s kind of like Jack Wilshere’s going to call me. It’s a bit different, no disrespect, to some other managers. I was really excited for the phone call. I was actually in Ibiza with the Bolton boys celebrating at the time, but I made time in the day for the call,” he said.
“It was one of the best conversations I’ve ever had with a manager, the way he broke everything down in his presentation, and then from that moment, it was kind of full-focus here.”
Johnston explained that Wilshere used a detailed tactical presentation to show how he saw the defender fitting into his plans at Kenilworth Road.
“It was a tactical breakdown where he showed me clips of his pre-game meetings and how he analyses opposition, how he we can break down that opposition, how we can hurt them, how I can fit into that and how I can help Luton. Yeah, it was very impressive.
The centre-back said the manager’s football philosophy was one of the biggest reasons he chose the Hatters, despite interest from other clubs in the division.
“I spoke to a couple of other clubs, but this one just stuck in my mind, as the place I wanted to come.”
He added: “I don’t think he needed to sell it [the club] too much. I think it was more the style of football was very similar to what I was used to. There’s a few clubs in this league that were interested in me that don’t necessarily play the best brand of football or the brand that I prefer to play.
“That was a pull as well. Coming to a club with the history, over the last few years, of Luton, they’ve had a couple of years on the decline, but it’s a club looking to get back up there and that’s the challenge I wanted to come into.”
Johnston, who has spent much of his career playing in possession-based teams, have come through the Liverpool academy and then playing a spell in the Netherlands with Feyenoord, believes Luton’s style matches his own approach to the game.
“I like playing possession football. Not possession for the sake of it, possession with a purpose, I think, playing forward when you can, but knowing when you need to recycle.”
The 27-year-old also revealed that Wilshere’s vision for Luton’s future was another major attraction, with the club looking to build on the improvement shown during the second half of last season, when they went unbeaten in League One in the last 11 games, drawing just three, including a final day 3-2 triumph over Johnston in Bolton colours.
“From January onwards, Luton were one of the best performing teams in the league, and I remember the last day, Bolton played them, and they were the most in form team in the league,” he said.
“It’s well documented, what the gaffer has done since he’s come in here, and it’s something I wanted to be part of.”
Johnston may make his debut for the Hatters tomorrow in the club’s first pre-season game at Hitchin Town, to help prepare for the challenge of trying to finish at the top end of League One.
“Once you’ve had one promotion, you want more,” he said.
“From my point of view, always the aim is to win the league. I’m guessing from a coach’s point of view that that’s the same.”
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