Villa defender Bree always wanted Kenilworth Road return

Full back James Bree was determined to become a permanent Luton Town player after his move from Aston Villa to Kenilworth Road was announced yesterday.

The 22-year-old had a successful loan spell with the Hatters last term, becoming one of the stand-out performers during the club’s successful fight to stay in the Championship.

On returning to Villa Park, Town boss Nathan Jones made his intentions to have Bree back clear, and with the desire mutual, a deal was done for Luton to get their man on a full-time basis.

Bree said: “It was an unbelievable way to finish the season with the group of lads, the staff and everyone involved, it was one of the better experiences I’ve had in football.

“Once I had the opportunity to come back, I couldn’t wait to get back here.

“I think there’s been talks since I left, I spoke to the gaffer quite often when I left and he was keen to get me back.

“It was something that all parties wanted to do, it’s got done and I’m delighted to be here.

“There’s a few lads I’ve been chatting to and they’ve been asking me to come back.

“Seeing Pell (Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu) brightens your day up in the morning, so it was good to be back, I know everyone, so it was good to be back around the lads.”

Bree is hoping that both he and the club can take their impressive form post lockdown into the new season which gets underway at home to Norwich City in the Carabao Cup first round on Saturday.

He added: “Part of coming here on loan last year was to get game time for myself.

“It had been a while since I’d had a full season in football, so 42 games was what I needed.

“It took me a bit of time to get going, but once I was going I was fine, so I think I’m going to take that into this season and just go from there.

“Everyone saw at the end of the season what we can do with this squad of players too.

“It’s a small squad at the minute, but it’s a really good squad, there’s some real quality.

“If we can replicate those performances, I think the sky’s the limit for this team this year and we definitely won’t be where we were last season.”