Fanne's return from injury means Bloomfield might not rush to find Krauß replacement
New signing is available to face Sheffield Wednesday
Luton boss Matt Bloomfield insisted he might not need to head into the transfer market and try to replace midfielder Tom Krauß in the final few days of the January window after news that recent addition Lamine Fanne was available once more.
The 23-year-old decided to cut short his time in England earlier this week, ending his season-long loan with the Hatters and head back to parent club Mainz, with a move to fellow Bundesliga side VfL Bochum swiftly announced. With Luton already making six additions this month, the majority of them in attacking areas, Josh Bowler, Millenic Alli, Thelo Aasgaard and Isaiah Jones all arriving, asked whether he believes he will need to look at a central midfielder to replace the former German U21 international, Bloomfield said: “If it’s right, it’s right, if it’s not we don’t need to push it.
"I’m really pleased with the numbers we've got in there, we’ve got some really good footballers. Clicker’s (Jordan Clark) been really good since we’ve come in the building, Marv (Marvelous Nakamba), Lamine, Walshy (Liam Walsh), Pelly (Mpanzu), we’ve got some good numbers in there, so we don’t need to force it as we’ve got some really good players. If the right one drops and it’s right for the club we’ll look at it, but if not we’re happy.
“In his first two performances Preston and Oxford I was really pleased with Tom, less so Millwall, the physicality of it was maybe a bit too much for him in that game. But he had a family situation, he wanted to return home and as a football club it was the right thing for us to do, to allow him. We’ve got good numbers in midfield, so if his mind was elsewhere then that’s absolutely fine.”
With Town heading to Sheffield Wednesday tomorrow, then one player who could take Krauß’s role in the side is Fanne, the 20-year-old fit enough to return from an ankle injury suffered in the FA Cup defeat at Nottingham Forest that kept him out of the last three matches. On having the former AIK midfielder available for the first time since he took over, Bloomfield continued: “Lamine’s back in the squad which is good.
"He was really close last Saturday, but didn’t quite make it, we’ve had a few knocks and niggles off the back of the game last week but it’s good to have Lamine back and we’re really pleased to add him to the squad. He wasn’t fit for the first couple of weeks I was here, but now he is. I’m not saying they’re the same player, but they play in a similar position, so with Tom leaving, we’ve got good numbers in midfield.
"I don’t think we need to replace Tom just to replace him, as Lamine has got good physicality, a young player that the club thought extremely highly of to bring him here in the first place and someone I’m really looking forward to working with. He’s a great boy, he’s got real good elements of his game that we believe he can be a real good midfield player. That physicality, his availability on the ball and quality on the ball, ability to cover ground quickly, there’s a lot to like and we’re pleased to have him fit.”
With Krauß the third best player in the Championship for tackles won during his 23 appearances for the Hatters, making 53 in that time, then Bloomfield is confident they have revised a gameplan that can cope with his departure, saying: “One of the best parts of Tom’s game was that, but he’s not here. We have to make sure we adapt the team and the shape and the pressing to suit the players that we’ve got available to us and are in the team for tomorrow. We believe we’ve done that, we’ve worked extremely hard on that this week and I’m really looking forward to seeing that come out tomorrow afternoon.”
Although Fanne will come into Bloomfield’s thoughts for the game at Hillsborough, attacker Tahith Chong is still unavailable following his hamstring injury, with the manager adding: “He’s not close, not right now. He’s doing his work, he’s not in the squad tomorrow, he’s not imminent but he’s not far away. I’m just waiting to welcome him back but it’s not going to be for tomorrow.”