Jones: Pepple's purple patch meant Luton had to act quickly to sign Canadian forward

Town boss discusses latest addition to Kenilworth Road
Hatters have brought in forward  Aribim Pepple from Cavalry FCHatters have brought in forward  Aribim Pepple from Cavalry FC
Hatters have brought in forward Aribim Pepple from Cavalry FC

Luton manager Nathan Jones revealed that striker Aribim Pepple’s purple patch in the Canadian Premier League meant the Hatters had to act quickly to bring him to Kenilworth Road before other clubs could pounce.

The 19-year-old recently became the first ever player to score in five consecutive league matches when achieving the feat for Cavalry FC and by netting six time in seven appearances, it saw the interest levels in him start to rise.

However, he became Luton’s ninth new addition of the summer after the Hatters shelled out an undisclosed fee to secure his services, as speaking about his new acquisition Jones said: “He’s a young, 19-year-old, strong, powerful player, that’s done really well of late.

“We’ve kept an eye on him, and then he hit a bit of a purple patch which alerted a lot of people, so we’ve acted in terms of bringing him in.

“He’s looked quality since we’ve brought him in and we’re excited about him.

"He’s one that will probably be one for the future, not one for immediately, he’s got to learn his trade, got to learn how to play for Luton Town and then we can bring him in and give him opportunities.

"But it’s another one where we're looking instead of going out and buying another Elijah (Adebayo) or a Carlton Morris or a Cameron Jerome, we're looking now to maybe develop one from a younger age and we think we’ve got him at the right time and it’s all about development.”

Having added Grimsby forward John McAtee this morning, immediately loaning the striker back to the Mariners for the season, Jones also went on to reiterate how a signing like Pepple is very much with the future in mind.

He continued: “With the greatest respect, we had to do our primary recruitment first, and there are certain signings that we make that are for the future.

“We know that the way we develop players, we are susceptible to losing them and we always want to have a bit of a conveyor belt of players coming through.

"The club have always been really proactive in finding the next one, and that’s what this does.

“People like Louie Watson, Alfie Doughty, Pepple – they safeguard the future of the club because we are doing our recruitment early with young players, developing them so that we are not having to go out and buy another Carlton Morris, for example.

“We are looking at developing players and keeping them moving forward within the club.

"Of course, we want to bring them through the academy.

"If that type isn’t in the academy, then we have to go and get them really early and work with them.

“That’s what this is. It’s a great opportunity for Bim, but he’s also a real good blank canvas to develop into our next Elijah, our next Cameron Jerome, our next Carlton Morris.

“He was born over here, but has gone to Canada and had a wonderful way of life over there.

“It may be a little bit different back over here, but I’m sure he’ll adapt to that and he’ll quickly come into the reckoning here, and whatever he needs to get up to speed, we’ll give him that.

"He’s a wonderful kid and we are really looking forward to working with him."

On just how Luton became aware of Pepple’s attributes during his time at Cavalry, Jones said: “We haven’t got massive man power, but what we do is we target certain things, young players especially, data and flag them up.

"Once we’ve seen that, then we go and get them watched, then we make decisions.

"Sometimes we’ve got to make bold decisions, sometimes we’ve got to make early decisions, but we know that the club always back us on this.

"We made an early decision and hopefully we can get real development out of him.”

The forward has been with Luton during pre-season, and on how he has been settling in, Jones added: “He’s had a few days, nothing mad, the tempo of training is sharp.

"It’s quick, it’s intense, so he’s going to take time to get up to speed but I’m sure he will.”