Hatters chief giving nothing away about the contract length of Luton Town's star midfielder Barkley

Luton boss Rob Edwards wasn’t giving anything away when questioned whether the club were trying to tie down midfielder Ross Barkley to a longer contract this season.

The Hatters saw fellow England international Andros Townsend sign a new long term deal recently following his terrific performances since arriving as a free agent in October, which led to queries on whether Barkley would also follow suit. After recovering from an injury that affected his start to life at Kenilworth Road, the summer signing, who spent last year in France with Ligue 1 side Nice, has been simply superb for Town in recent weeks and months, not missing a single league minute since the 3-1 defeat at his former club Aston Villa some 10 games ago.

Scoring two goals and providing an assist, each time Barkley is named on the teamsheet is a thrill for those Hatters fans in attendance, with his skill in possession leading to a number of supporters labelling him the best player they have ever witnessed wearing a Town shirt. Throw into the mix a desire to shoot from range, his 30-yard thunderbolt crashing against the underside of the Newcastle United bar recently, each time he steps foot on the field he delivers something memorable, as an audacious backheeled through ball to Tahith Chong in the recent 3-2 defeat to Chelsea, which drew gasps of disbelief from those present, would demonstrate.

Asked if it was now a priority to tie down the former Everton and Chelsea player to a longer deal, a cryptic Edwards revealed that might not have to be the case, saying: “I don’t think I ever said how long we signed him for. He might have signed for longer than that (end of the season), I’m not going to say. We don’t like to give too much away, but I’ll let people go and do their work. I’ll have to go and ask someone as well, I think he’s longer than a year.”

With Barkley having won 33 caps for his country and England involved in the Euros this year, talks have understandably turned to whether he could force his way into Gareth Southgate’s squad as a surprise selection for the tournament that is being held in Germany. That wasn’t part of Edwards’ considerations at the moment though with Luton involved in a relegation battle to remain a Premier League side this term, adding: “I’ve got to concentrate on the here and now with Luton and that’s what Ross has got to do as well.

"I understand the talk as he’s played so many times for his country before, but it's been a good period and Ross will be the first one to say as well, he’s got to keep doing it and keep that consistency in his football and then you never know. But we certainly love him and what he’s doing for us at the moment is brilliant. The fans love him, some of his performances you would pay to watch and that’s great as it is an entertainment business. We want to try and be entertaining while winning football matches, it’s difficult all of the time, but players like Ross help.”