Luton boss not looking at the free agent market just yet as he hopes Adebayo will feature

Hatters boss Matt Bloomfield has confirmed he isn’t currently looking at the free agent market, as he remains hopeful that striker Elijah Adebayo can play a part in the second half of Town’s League One campaign after naming the forward in his 19-man EFL squad last week.

The 27-year-old, who has scored 47 goals in 182 games for Luton since arriving from Walsall in February 2021, suffered a serious ACL injury during the 1-1 draw against Leeds United in early April. With the forward unable to feature in Town’s ultimate relegation from the Championship, although he won’t be available until well into the new year, he still made the cut, along with Jacob Brown and Marvelous Nakamba, who are yet to play for Town this term as well.

Speaking about his inclusion, Bloomfield said: “We hope he will play in the second half of the season. There’s no chance he’ll be available in the first half of the season, but we do hope to have him available at some point. He’ll be right when he’s right, it won’t be decided on emotion or hope. When Eli’s fit we’re really looking forward to having him back, but it will be when he’s ready. He’s got to feel right, he’s got to go through all the different stages of his rehab and we will look forward to having him back and we hope it will be at some point this season although definitely not in the near future.”

Although Town can name 22 players in their squad, which doesn’t include goalkeepers or U21s, they still have three spots available after a transfer window that saw 14 new signings come into Kenilworth Road and 11 depart. Asked whether they had been left available with one eye on bringing in a player who is currently without a club, or to instead promote youngsters like Zack Nelson, Christ Makosso and Gideon Kodua, to name just three, who will qualify as senior members next term, Bloomfield added: “I think there’s a number of elements to consider.

“I don’t think we’re looking at free agents right now, although if we need to then we’re always looking and what I mean by that is there’s nothing imminent to bring in a free agent. We’ve obviously got a number of young players who don’t qualify to be named in that group who are part of our squad, Zack Nelson and Christ being two of them.

"They need time to develop. I want to protect them and help nurture them and improve them. Christ and Zack are going to be huge players for our football club and part of my responsibility as a manager and a coach is to help these boys grow and improve and become better. They’re not part of the named squad because of their age but they’re absolutely a big part as you can see with the minutes they’ve played that they’re a big part of what we’re trying to do.”