Luton sign Rams midfielder Thorne on loan

Luton have completed the loan signing of Derby County midfielder George Thorne until the end of the season.
New Luton signing George ThorneNew Luton signing George Thorne
New Luton signing George Thorne

The 26-year-old, who went to school in Bedford, is yet to feature this season for the Rams, but has been a regular for the U23s in the Premier League Two Division One, playing 11 times, scoring twice.

He won't be available to play against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup third round replay, but will be eligible in the competition should Town make it past the Owls.

Thorne has played in the Premier League for former club West Bromwich Albion nine times, had spells with Portsmouth, Peterborough United and Watford, before heading to Derby in January 2014.

The former England U16s, U17s, U18s and U19s international suffered two serious injuries, cruciate knee ligament injury and a double leg break which has hindered his time at Pride Park, but Luton boss Nathan Jones feels it is a real coup to bring in the midfielder.

He said: “George is a top midfield player who has been unfortunate that injuries have curtailed what should have been a fantastic career.

“He is a wonderful footballer who has been involved in some real good teams, and we are delighted to have him; one for his ability, two for his experience, and three because he has shown a real desire to come to us, which we always like.

“Anyone we brought in now obviously has to be a top signing and I think this kicks the window off nicely.”

Thorne, who was a member of the squad that won the U17 European Championships with the likes of Jack Butland and Ross Barkley in 2010, will bolster the Town squad in the absence of Glen Rea, himself out for the rest of the campaign with injury.

Jones added: "We weren’t necessarily looking in that position but we always had targets moving forward in terms of the level we were at, so all it did was speed up the process.

"What happened to Glen is really unfortunate because he was one of our stand-out players this season.

"We had to move quickly because we have Alan McCormack in that position, who has done very well since he came back in, but we want to strengthen and make sure that we have competition all over, and George adds that.”