Hatters thwarted in permanent deal attempt for Grant

New Luton signing Jorge GrantNew Luton signing Jorge Grant
New Luton signing Jorge Grant
Luton chief Nathan Jones admitted he had to concede defeat in his attempts to sign midfielder Jorge Grant from Nottingham Forest on a permanent basis and settle for season-long deal instead.

Grant, who penned a three year deal in June 2017 with his parent club, impressed hugely while at Notts County last term, alerting the interest of Jones.

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He waited to make his move in the summer and on how negotiations went, the Town boss said: “We’ve been trying to get Jorge for two months.

“We knew we wanted him a year ago, we enquired about him again at Christmas, and being respectful to Notts County as well in terms of what they’re looking to do in the future, (we decided) not to take him then.

“As soon as the season finished, as soon as Notts County finished, we approached Notts Forest.

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“We’ve tried to get the deal done, we’ve gone back and forth, and ultimately we’ve had to settle for a loan.

“We wanted to do it permanently and rightly so, they’ve got a good valuation of their player.

“We rate him, they rate him, so it wasn’t possible, but we’re delighted to get him because we’re getting a fine, young player and a good individual.

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“So we’re very happy and it’s good to do it before Slovenia, because we do a lot of good work out there we feel and it’s good for them to integrate as well.”

After Grant scored 19 goals in 56 games for County last term, Jones feels the move will bolster his side’s already impressive attacking options even further.

He continued: “We think he’s someone that we like, players that can handle a football, if they can score goals it’s a real bonus as well.

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“I don’t think we’ve signed many bad footballers since we’ve come to the football club. We’ve signed people that want to work, want to do well and we’ve got some wonderful competition for places.

“We’ve got Luke Berry coming back who’s massively ahead of schedule, so the future is bright.”

Once Grant knew there was no chance of leaving Forest for good, the midfielder made sure he got the next best option, adding: “When I was going back into pre-season, I already knew there wasn’t going to be an opportunity there for me.

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“There was some talk about it being a permanent move as well, that didn’t happen, so I definitely made sure I came on loan. I think we spoke about it, but both clubs couldn’t come to an agreement, so a loan it is.

“We wanted to get it sorted so I could be with the lads for that week (in Slovenia) and then get to know each other and get to know each other on the pitch as well.”