Edwards hails Luton's 'aggressive' approach to bring in German midfielder

​Luton boss Rob Edwards felt his side’s aggressive approach in the transfer market helped them bring in former German U21 international Thomas Krauß from Mainz on a season-long loan last week.

The 23-year-old, who has made over 60 appearances in the Bundesliga for Mainz and Schalke, with another 60-plus following in the second tier for FC Nürnberg, opted to make his first move away from his home country, when agreeing to join the Hatters for the rest of the campaign. Asked just how a deal to bring in a player who has also been capped 43 times by Germany from U15 to U21 level came about, Edwards said: “Tom, wow, he’s some man, he really wanted to join, he sees us a great fit for him as well as us about the player. Like anyone who flags up like that, you can flag up in data and do a lot of research and a lot of work.

"You speak to as many people as possible and to the player himself. You build up a good character reference and whether they are going to be a good fit. A lot of time and effort goes into any kind of recruitment from overseas, so a lot of credit to the recruitment team and Gary (Sweet, CEO) and the board throughout the whole process as it’s not easy to get players like that over the line.

He wants to play consistently now and that had almost been made clear at Mainz (that he wasn’t). We were aware of the situation, we’ve gone in there and been quite aggressive with it and really sold it to him, but then after one meeting, he did a lot of research himself, he thinks it’s the right fit for him as well.”

Although Krauß is currently injured, meaning Town fans might not get to see him until after the international break when they head to Millwall on Saturday, September 14, Edwards didn’t think his long term future at Kenilworth Road depended on the club winning an instant promotion back to the Premier League. Asked if that was needed to bring him in permanently, he continued: “Maybe even if we don’t (go up), I don’t see why not.

"He's got an ankle sprain, he rolled his ankle 10-12 days ago, training with Mainz. We’ve obviously got an upcoming international break as well, so we’re not putting too much pressure on him or the medical team, but we don’t see it being too long, hopefully just a few weeks.”

With Krauß himself pushing for the move to Luton, as he saw Kenilworth Road as the perfect place to take his career to the next level, then Edwards feels that once again it shows the Hatters have become a club that players want to be associated with. He added: “I know the recruitment has taken a while because there’s been certain challenges and a difficult window and that’s probably across the board.

"The interest that we get maybe from agents putting players forward or certain things that we hear, we are a more attractive option now. There’s no doubt about that, so it’s nice, it’s good that players of that calibre are keen to come and they can see that we can help them progress their career. We can lean on actual individuals and say look what we’ve helped him do, and look where he’s gone now and I think that’s really clear for people to see.

"He’s (Krauß) had a great education in his footballing career so far, playing for the German national teams, but particularly his work at Leipzig where there will be similarities to some of the things we will do as well. He’s someone who gets how we play, I think it’s the right place for him in the next step in his career, so we’re really excited to get him in. He’s full of energy, an aggressive midfielder, fans are going to really like him. They’ll take to him and another one we’re really excited to get in.”