Bloomfield accepts 'cornerstone' of Town's recent success making his Championship return

Luton boss Matt Bloomfield accepted the decision of defender Reece Burke who he labelled as a ‘cornerstone’ of the Hatters’ success on the pitch in recent years to leave Kenilworth Road and make an instant return to the Championship.

The 28-year-old had played in the Premier League once more for Town when Luton won promotion via their play-off final victory over Coventry City, spending three of the last four years in the second tier. Burke has featured in League One twice before, with a season in the third tier when at Hull City during the 2020-21 campaign and once more when loaned to Bradford City from West Ham United in 2015-16.

Having made 101 appearances since signing for Luton in the summer of 2021, at an average of just over 25 outings per year, Burke, who suffered with injuries while a Hatters player, was only fit enough to start one match for Bloomfield when he took over from previous manager Rob Edwards in January, that coming in a 1-0 success at former side Hull City, where he played the opening 45 minutes.

With that in mind, the boss, speaking to the club’s official website, 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.”

Meanwhile, Charlton chief Nathan Jones, who had brought Burke to Luton from Hull, and has now signed him for a second time, as he joins join ex-Town quartet Thomas Kaminski, Amari’i Bell, Luke Berry and Lloyd Jones at the Valley, told the Addicks official website: “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."