Reece Burke has brought his four-year spell at Luton Town to an end after the club agreed a fee with Charlton Athletic for the defender’s permanent transfer.
The 28-year-old leaves Kenilworth Road having made 101 appearances and scored four goals since joining from Hull City on a free transfer in 2021. He joins former Luton goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski and defender Amari’i Bell, who both joined Charlton earlier month. Former Town midfielder Luke Berry is also at the south London club with former striker Danny Hylton, who has now moved into a coaching role.
Burke, who began his career at West Ham, played a key role in Luton’s recent rise. He helped the Hatters reach the Championship play-offs in his first season and was instrumental during the promotion-winning campaign the following year, including a standout performance in the Wembley final win over Coventry City.
He featured 22 times in the Premier League season, and reached his century of appearances in the penultimate game of last term’s Championship campaign – a 1-0 home win over Coventry – but came on as a substitute in the following match where Luton suffered a second successive relegation.
Reflecting on Burke’s contribution, Hatters manager Matt Bloomfield said: “Burkey is another who has been a cornerstone of the club’s success in recent years, and it was so disappointing that we couldn’t have him fit to play more games for us last season as I’m sure he would have had a real influence for us.
“He has a great personality and is a lad of real character; someone I think a lot of despite only working with him for a short period of time. Understandably he wants to compete at the highest possible level and he leaves with our best wishes for future success.”
Burke will now link up once again with Nathan Jones, the manager who first brought him to Luton in 2021 and is now in charge at Charlton.
Speaking to the Addicks’ official website, Burke said: “I’m really pleased to be here. I’ve worked with Nathan before, it felt like we had a good connection – I felt he brought the best out of me. I know what sort of team he can build, that environment is something I want to be a part of.”
Jones added: “We’re really pleased to bring Reece in – he’s a wonderful defender and a really good character. He comes to us with plenty of Premier League and Championship experience and will really add to the group.”
