Summer signing's Ibiza chat with Luton boss was one of his 'best conversations'

New Luton signing George Johnston revealed that his phone call with Town boss Jack Wilshere before agreeing to move to Kenilworth Road was one of the ‘best conversations’ he has ever had with a football manager.

The 27-year-old had been on holiday when Wilshere made contact, enjoying the post-season celebrations with former club Bolton Wanderers, the Trotters having won the League One play-offs by beating Stockport County 4-1 in the final at Wembley. Although Johnston wore the captain’s armband that day, making his 49th appearance of the campaign, he wasn’t offered a new deal to remain at the Toughsheet Stadium, meaning for the first time in five years, he was seeking new employers.

Unsurprisingly, there were a fair few clubs in for his signature, but the ex-Liverpool defender admitted sorting out his future was an easy decision once he learned of Wilshere’s interest and had actually spoken to the former England and Arsenal star. The centre half said: “It was kind of like, oh, Jack Wilshere is going to call me, it’s a bit different then, no disrespect, to some other managers, so I was really excited for the phone call.

"I was actually in Ibiza with the Bolton lads celebrating, but I made time in my day to take the call and it was one of the best conversations I’ve ever had with a manager. The way he broke everything down and his presentation, it just drew me in and from that moment it was full focus on Luton. It was a Zoom call and he had a presentation, which he shared on screen.

"It was just a tactical breakdown. He showed me clips of his pre-game meetings and how he analyses an opposition, how he will analyse how we can break down an opposition, how we can hurt them and then how I can fit into that and how I can help Luton, so it was very impressive. I knew he was going to have a lot of knowledge, being in the game and playing at the level he has done and I really think that can benefit me. I can learn new things, new ideas and implement them. I spoke to a couple of other clubs, but this one just stuck in my mind as the place I wanted to come."

Having seen Luton close up, as Johnstone played 90 minutes when the two sides drew 1-1 at Kenilworth Road last term, and watched on when Town claimed a 3-2 win in Greater Manchester on the final day of the season, which wasn’t quite enough to secure a top six berth, the former Scotland U21 international also felt the kind of team the Hatters have become under Wilshere was perfect for him.

He added: “I don’t think he needed to sell it too much, it was more the style of football was very similar to what I was used to, actually playing football. There were a few clubs in this league that were interested in me that don’t necessarily play the best brand of football or the brand that I prefer to play, so that was a pull as well.

"Earlier on in the year when Luton first showed their interest, I started to watch a few games and you can see the quality within the squad and then watching from the sidelines at the Bolton home game, you could see it even more in person. Coming to a club with the history over the past few years of Luton, obviously they’ve had a couple of years on the decline, but it’s a club looking to get back up there and that’s the challenge I wanted to come into.”

Asked about the importance of his presentation to Johnston, Wilshere himself added: “I enjoy that. I enjoy coaching, I enjoy developing, I enjoy watching football. I watched a lot of Bolton last year, I thought they were really good, I watched a lot of the World Cup too and I’m trying to learn different things, that’s something I’m passionate about.

"I prefer to meet them in person, but he was obviously in Ibiza celebrating, rightly so. We try here, we have a really clear way that we want to play, of course we’re looking at ways to adapt it and evolve it, but when you have that, you can then have a clear lens. When you’re watching a centre back, you know what you want from a centre back, even if it’s not exactly what you want them to do.

"You can see the behaviours that they’re doing, so I’m always pretty clear with what we went from them in those conversations, but also how we can help them as again that’s something I’m passionate about. It’s what I want this environment to be like, to develop players, develop people and we’ve done a good job of that so far and we need to keep doing that. He’s a good player and someone who we knew.

"We had identified earlier in the season that he was going to become available potentially, whether Bolton decided to offer him something or not, so we made contact with him and kept that relationship going. When it was known that he wasn’t going to be at Bolton, we were keen to get it done. We met with George and as soon as I met with him I knew he was the type of character that would fit in here. He’s a good player, he captained Bolton at Wembley at the end of the season, so he’s got good experience and someone who can come in and help us straight away.”