Luton will not pay inflated fees for players just because the club have Premier League parachute payments – but boss Rob Edwards has urged fans to believe in the club’s recruitment policy which took them from the Conference to the Premier League in a decade.
The aim is to return to the top flight after relegation last season and the Hatters will host Burnley on Monday night in their Championship curtain-raiser, having both suffered the drop.
This summer the Clarets have splashed out in the region of £30million on new recruits, while Town have brought in Shandon Baptiste and Reuell Walters on free deals, from Brentford and Arsenal respectively.
Edwards remains hopeful of signing up to three more players before the window shuts on August 30, but it has been a frustrating summer.
After relegation from the Premier League Luton are in the position for the first time of having parachute payments for the next three seasons, with relegated clubs getting around £30million a season on average in recent years. Though that is likely to be higher for Luton in this first year, with 55 per cent of the Premier League broadcasting rights due.
But with the early stages of work now taking place on their Power Court stadium, the long-term financial benefit of reaching the top-flight will be to achieve that goal of sustainability – though Edwards does have money to spend on recruitment this summer.
Town have also recouped around £10million in the sale of Ross Barkley to Aston Villa and Ryan Giles to Hull City.
Asked whether the difficulty in signing players this summer may be affected by the perceptions of Luton’s parachute payment-filled coffers, Edwards said: “It could be an element of that.”
But he is the manager that convinced Barkley to come to Luton last summer as a free agent. And, when he did splash the cash, Giles became their record transfer outlay at around £5million, most of which they got back in his sale.
Edwards added: “We want players to want to come here as well to be part of Luton Town and, they’re going to be well paid, but it’s not going to be what some might get in other places as well.
“We want them to come to be part of what we want to do and help us achieve success as well, so there’s elements from every party involved in any one of these deals.
“They’ve got to want to come and we will then try and make it happen, but we’re not going to pay millions over the odds for people because we’ve had a year in the Premier League either, so it’s a fine balance.
“But I can’t ask for anything more than what we’re getting at the moment, we’re trying really hard and Gary (Sweet, CEO) and the board are really trying to back us as well and working extremely hard to get things done.”
Generally, across football this summer, it has been a relatively quiet transfer window so far.
Edwards said: “I know there are deals that are going on out there. Obviously, we’ve got a couple in. We’re delighted with Shandon and Reuell. I know they’re maybe lower key ones because they’re not huge fees, but they’re really good players and they’re going to help us this season.
“I think people have got to believe in how we do things because our recruitment over a long period of time has been very good.
“That will continue to be the case, I’m sure about that because we’ve got a brilliant team that work very, very hard to make sure they bring in good players for us to look at and improve the group.
“I just think, across the board, it is quieter in football at the moment. Whether that’s because of the Euros and not loads happening in the Premier League right now, which maybe then makes things filter down to us, I’m not sure.
“There’ll be loads of reasons. A bit like why we’ve had so many injuries. There’s lots of factors around it, but we are trying hard to do one or two.
“By the way, I understand it. They (fans) want to see a team that’s looking to progress and improve constantly and that’s what we’re trying to do.
“I get it. I’m not trying to be negative. We need a couple to help us and strengthen us. That’s happening, but remember those five or six that we’ve got to come back in as well.
“So, that’s why I’m saying that in a few weeks time we’ll be in a really good place.”
The hangover of last season’s injury crisis, has left Luton light in defensive areas ahead of the Burnley opener, which is another factor that has raised hopes of new recruits among fans.
There is also the spectre of added expectation itself, as the Hatters will be expected to challenge for promotion again in the Championship.
“I understand it,” said Edwards, adding: “With what we’ve done, we’ll be expected to be up there now. In this league, two years in a row to be in the play-offs, they’re going to be people’s expectations, minimum. We’ve got to be able to handle that and deal with it. That’s fine.
“In order to deal with that you need a strong group. So I get it. I get from outside, people want to get one or two in. I just need people to understand that we don’t need loads and we’re working hard on it.”
