Luton chief confirms Town were interested in signing Stoke's on-loan Foxes forward

Luton boss Rob Edwards has confirmed that the Hatters had shown an interest in signing Leicester City forward Tom Cannon ahead of his move to tonight’s opponents Stoke City in the summer.

The 21-year-old had been on the books of Everton since turning pro at Goodison Park in 2021, before heading out on loan to Preston North End in January 2023, scoring eight goals in 20 Championship outings for the Lilywhites. That alerted the interest of Leicester City, who snapped him up for an undisclosed fee in September 2023, as he penned a five year contract with the Foxes.

Cannon struggled for first team football at the King Power Stadium last term though, playing just 16 times in all competitions, on target three times. He then opted to head to Stoke on a season-long deal in the summer despite Town also reportedly being in the running to sign him, with a fee of around £7m being mentioned. It took a while for the Republic of Ireland international to get going, without a goal in his first four games, before he exploded into life when finding the net four times in a 6-1 win over Portsmouth.

The striker drew a blank in his next four outings, before grabbing another goal in the 3-2 Carabao Cup loss to Southampton which started a run of four in five games to make it eight for the season. Asked about whether Town had looked to bring him in during the transfer window, Edwards said: “He’s someone that we were aware of and had spoken about, like we do with loads of players.

"But he’s a good footballer and when players like that might be available, obviously we’re aware. He’s a threat, he can give them a good platform where they can play it into him, but he works really well off the shoulder and can give them a threat in behind as well. He’s a good finisher too, so he’s a good footballer.”

With Stoke sacking ex-Plymouth manager Stephen Schumacher in September, they appointed former Figueres and Peralada head coach Narcis Pelach in his place, although the Spaniard has struggled for results. In fact since that win over Pompey, City have only triumphed twice in in their last 12 fixtures and are currently on a run of five without a success, taking three points from a possible 15 to sit 15th in the the table.

A victory for Luton would see them overtake the Potters, as on the visitors, Edwards added: “They’ve got some good players, got a real clear way of playing and it will be another difficult challenge. They’ve got some pace on the top line, Cannon gives them a real threat in behind, they’ve got some nice technical players, (Bae) Jun-Ho and others.

“A decent loan in (Lewis) Koumas (from Liverpool) as well, so they’ve got a good blend of youthful, technical players, but with a bit of a threat on that last line with some pace. Like every game at the moment, a really challenging game for us, but one that if we get things right, then of course we can take three points, no doubt about it.”