Jack Wilshere has opened the door for Teden Mengi to leave Luton Town despite the defender remaining part of his first-team group and available for selection.
Mengi was linked with a Kenilworth Road exit during the summer transfer window after Wilshere told the 24-year-old at the end of last season that he felt a move away would be best for him.
However, no deal materialised before the transfer window closed on Tuesday night and Mengi remains with the Hatters, training alongside the first-team squad.
Wilshere says he would not prevent the former Manchester United youngster from leaving should an overseas opportunity emerge. Some European leagues close their transfer window after England’s, as was the case today with striker Lasse Nordås’ loan departure to Polish club KS Cracovia.
“We had a conversation at the end of last season and I thought it would be best for him to move on, but also with the understanding that he’d be with the group in pre-season and training,” Wilshere said of Mengi.
“He obviously had a little bit of an injury last season but came back really well, completed pre-season, and it didn’t quite happen for him.
“So he’s training with the group, he trained today, and he’s available for selection.”
Asked whether Mengi could still leave with some overseas transfer windows remaining open, Wilshere said: “I don’t even know what windows are open, but if he gets an offer and comes to me and says he wants to take it, I wouldn’t stand in his way.
“But at the moment he’s part of the group, he’s training, and, unless it changes, that’s how it will be.”
Mengi’s situation is not straightforward, with Wilshere acknowledging that the defender now has to adjust to knowing he remains at Luton despite being told his long-term future lies elsewhere.
“I think he needs some time now to train, be clear with that, and get his head straight with that,” the Luton boss said.
“Because he has been with the group in pre-season, it’ll be easier to do that. It’s not as if he’s coming completely from the cold — he’s been with the group.
“He probably needs a little bit of time to get his head around that, but he’ll be fine. I know Teds. Teds was really important to me last year when I first came. I thought he was excellent. [He] picked up an injury at a bad time, but he’ll be fine.”
Nordås has now completed a loan move to Cracovia for the remainder of the season, with an option to buy.
The Norwegian striker was another player Wilshere had identified as someone who would benefit from finding a new club and regular football, after he spent the second half of last season on loan at Dutch top flight side SC Heerenveen.
“He wanted to play. He was similar to all the players that kind of left,” Wilshere said of the Norwegian. ” — “I made it clear at the end of last season that that would probably be the best thing for him.
“It’s taken a while for Lasse, but credit to him, he was waiting for the right opportunity, for the right club. He’s a deep thinker and he’s really clear with what he wants. So he goes to a league that he’s never been to — a different league — and we wish him well.”
Full back, Reuell Walters is another player who had been expected to leave after not being handed a squad number for the new campaign.
“Rue’s injured. Unfortunately for him he got injured in pre-season training, so it [a transfer] was probably never going to happen this window,” Wilshere said. “He needs to get himself fit and available, and then see what happens in the future.”
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