Hatters boss declares star striker Adebayo will be staying at Luton

Luton boss Nathan Jones has declared star striker Elijah Adebayo will be staying at Kenilworth Road during the current transfer window.

The forward scored an impressive 17 goals last season for the Hatters as they reached the Championship play-offs, becoming one of the most feared frontmen in the division, finishing eighth in the goalscoring charts for the second tier.

A hamstring injury saw him miss the final few matches though, including the majority of Town’s two-legged play-off semi-final defeat to Huddersfield, thrown on with minutes remaining at the John Smith’s Stadium when clearly nowhere near fit, unable to overturn the 2-1 deficit.

Although such a prolific campaign will no doubt lead to renewed interest in the former Fulham youngster, Jones doesn’t anticipate he will be anywhere other than turning out for the Hatters this season, saying: “He will be here, Elijah will be here.

"We believe that he’s on a road to progression, so any offers now would need to be at a level that probably they’re not going to be, because he’s not at his ceiling with us yet.

"We believe that he’s only effectively 16 months into being with us and you saw a significant improvement over time here.

“Yes he picked up an injury late on, but he had to play a lot of games.

"What we want to do this season is give him that little bit of help as we were very reliant on him in terms of in and out of possession.

"We want to give him that little bit of help so that we keep him fresh and more durable and that we’re able to work with him constantly as there was a big compromise last season.

“Towards the end of the season a bit of fatigue came in, that showed then in him getting injured and it was sad he missed the biggest games because he’d earned the right to play in those games.

"I’m sure, without being disrespectful to anyone, but we would have had an edge if he’d been in the team.

"We were very, very unlucky not to go through in the tie and he might have been the difference, you never know.”