Matt Bloomfield says Luton Town remain open to adding attacking reinforcements before the end of the transfer window – and admits the club have had to act early in some areas while staying reactive in others.
News broke yesterday that a move for Colchester United striker Samson Tovide had collapsed at the final stages, despite reports of terms being agreed earlier in the week. Since then, respected transfer journalist Pete O’Rourke has reported that Luton have had two bids rejected for Gillingham forward Joe Gbode, who scored three goals in 39 appearances for the Kent club last season.
Asked about the search for attacking additions, Bloomfield, talking earlier in the week, said: “We’ve just gone and signed Jerry [Yates]. 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.”
Talking of Luton’s wider transfer strategy, Bloomfield said the club are working with one eye on potential departures, while continuing to scan the market for the right opportunities.
“Incomings? I think we’re always working, but we’re not desperate. We’re really pleased with the business that we’ve done and depending on who we lose and who stays, depends how we need to react, he said.
“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 you try and get someone in your 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. And others, it’s the balance of probabilities has been more in the favour that we think they’re going to leave. So we’ve tried to act as soon as we possibly can.”
That approach saw Luton move Cohen Bramall hours before Town kicked off their League One campaign with a 1-0 win over AFC Wimbledon last Friday, following the departure of Alfie Doughty to Millwall. But Bloomfield made clear that the club’s transfer business may not be done yet.
“It’s not an exact science because deals take [time] – there’s so many parts of the deal that needs to go through before we can execute what we need to execute,” he said.
“But we’re solid at the back, I believe that we’ve got some good options there. Midfield we’ve strengthened and we’re happy with,” he said.
Luton return to action on Saturday with a trip to Peterborough United tomorrow and Bloomfield will be hoping for more cutting edge in front of goal. New signing Jerry Yates is still short of match fitness after his switch from Swansea for a reported seven-figure sum, but Wells was the creator of winner against Wimbledon on his debut.
“He’s an absolute class act in everything he does, the way he conducts himself, the way he trains, the way he speaks to others, the way he leads. He is everything I hoped he would be and even more in terms of his persona and character,” Bloomfield said.
“So we’re really excited to have him in the in the building. We’re really pleased and proud that he’s one of our senior group and he’s going to be a really good player for us this season, Naks.”
He added: “We’ve lost a lot of attacking threat and goals out of the building in a team that didn’t score enough, that we wanted to last year. So it’s going to take a little bit of time. We’re going to have to show a little bit of patience, but I’m not one who’s very patient, I want to get there right now.”
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