Boss Rob Edwards is hopeful fans have not seen the last of Ross Barkley in a Luton shirt despite the midfielder and defender Reece Burke being ruled out of Town’s final Premier League game at home to Fulham on Sunday.
Barkley was withdrawn with a calf injury in last weekend’s 3-1 defeat at West Ham United, with Luton 1-0 up and still in with a chance of voice relegation.
But the Hammers hit three past Town in the second half to effectively relegate the Hatters back to the Championship after one top-flight season, but for a miracle 12-goal swing over Nottingham Forest on the final day.
“Burkey and Ross will both be out, unfortunately,” said Edwards, adding: “Burkey’s Achilles is too sore and we’ll take him out of it now. He’s been playing through some pain, and Ross will be out for a number of weeks, probably three or four weeks, so he’ll miss the final one, unfortunately.”
Rumours already began to spread earlier in the season that the new minority owner of Manchester United, Jim Radcliffe, is keen to sign Barkley, while th player himself has both declared his love for Luton, but also his desire to play at the highest level.
Asked if Town fans could have already seen Barkley’s last game for the club, Edwards said: “I hope not, but we’ll see.
“Our aim is to try and keep the group together and obviously Ross has been a really important player for us, so that’s what we want.
“We’ve had a good chat. We want to be open and honest with each other. Ross is an ambitious person, like we all are. We all want to be at the top and competing at the top.
“But at the same time, he recognises what this club has done for him as well, and what we’ve been able to do for each other.
“He’s loved this season and he loves the club. I speak openly and frankly, nothing really is off the table. Nothing. And we’re really hopeful that he’ll stay.
“We’re also realistic, in this day and age, about what could happen as well. It’s not just him, there might be one or two others, but that doesn’t mean that him and one or two others are going to go either. We are in control of a lot of these things, as well.
“So it will be an interesting few months. All I can say is that we are really committed to being as strong as possible, to go into next season.”
The midfielder, who signed on a free in the summer, has won all the top end-of-season individual player awards in the last fortnight, as fans have honoured the 30-year-old for his performances.
Edwards said: “It’s what I spoke to him about on the phone when we were trying to sign him, that, ‘you could be a real hero’.
“He’s really beginning to become that. I think his performances have been great and it’s nice that he’s picked up some awards in the two evenings.
“He is a special player and it’s nice that he’s been recognised like that.”
Asked if that reaction plus his rapport with the fans in the stands at games could persuade Barkley to remain at Luton, Edwards said: “It does play a factor, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.
“I’ll say it with Thomas Kaminski over the last couple of awards evenings, when he’s got his awards and you hear people singing his name.
“It must feel incredible, that. I don’t think there’s any doubt that supporters can play their part when they show their love for a player. I never really had that as a player, so I can only imagine [that] it’s quite nice.”
