Luton manager Matt Bloomfield would not be drawn on reports linking the club with a move for Colchester United striker Samson Tovide – but he admits there will likely still be movement in and out of Kenilworth Road before the transfer window closes.
Tovide, 20, is a player Bloomfield knows well from his time in charge at Colchester, and after reports that Luton were in talks with him last week, he was omitted from United’s first game of the season, with boss Danny Cowley saying his expected departure was a “great opportunity” for the youngster.
But when asked directly about the speculation, Bloomfield, respectfully, remained tight-lipped.
“What I will say about Samson is obviously he was a young player that we had at Colchester, someone I think a lot of,” he said. “But it’s the boring line – I won’t comment on other people’s players. That’s not what I’m here to do. He’s Colchester’s player, so I feel like it’s really disrespectful to be talking about other people’s players.”
Despite playing down the rumours, Bloomfield did suggest that, with more than three weeks left in the window, further incomings remain possible as Luton continue to reshape their squad following last season’s relegation to League One.
“Incomings – I think we’re always working, but we’re not desperate,” the manager said. “We’re really pleased with the business that we’ve done and depending on who we lose and who stays will depend how we need to react.”
Luton have brought in striker Jerry Yates and full back Cohen Bramall before Friday’s 1-0 win over AFC Wimbledon, but Bloomfield hinted there may be other areas under consideration, especially with attacking options having been depleted in recent months.
“We lost Carlton [Morris] over the summer, we’ve lost Eli [Adebayo] to his injury. [Jacob] Brownie’s been injured and we’ve lost Thello [Aasgaard] – we’ve lost a lot of goals and attacking threat,” he said. “It’s going to take a little bit of time. We’re going to have to show a little bit of patience.”
Asked if there were specific positions still being targeted, Bloomfield responded: “Quite possibly, yeah, absolutely. By the time we come out of the end of the window, we want to be as strong as we possibly can be.
“If players are on free transfers, you have to act right now and get someone in the building, even if you haven’t maybe lost a player. But some players we can’t react to until they’ve gone because you’re not certain if they’re going to leave.
“We’ve just gone and signed Jerry. We’ve brought Nahki [Wells] in, but we have lost goals out of the building and we’ll keep an open mind. If the right opportunity presents itself and everything’s right, we’ll look to execute that as well.”
Bloomfield also confirmed that some players could be moved on before the end of the month to streamline the squad, though he has also admitted Luton are not in a position where they need to sell, should they want to keep hold of a player, amid reports of interest from Coventry and a host of European sides in midfielder Lamine Fanne, who the boss views as having a future at Kenilworth Road.
“We don’t want to be overly heavy,” he said. “We’ve got a really busy period leading up to the January window, so we can’t leave ourselves light. But at the same time, I’m never one to just accumulate players. Everyone who’s in the squad needs to feel a part of it.”
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