Wales U21s boss believes Luton forward needs a loan move in January

Wales U21 manager Matty Jones believes that Luton striker Joe Taylor will be looking for a loan move in January as he bids to work his way back into his reckoning for the Young Dragons upcoming squads.

The 21-year-old made his debut for the U21s in a friendly against Austria U21s in September 2022, also featuring against Scotland U21s, but his last outing was 45 minutes during a 2-1 defeat to Denmark U21s in the Euro U21 qualifier back in November of last year. With Wales close to qualifying for the U21 European Championships next summer, Taylor wasn’t included by Jones for the final match at home to Czechia this week, despite netting 22 goals during loan spells for both Colchester United and Lincoln City last term.

Since returning to Kenilworth Road, Taylor, who did almost move away on loan during the recent transfer window, Town unable to bring in a suitable replacement ahead of the deadline passing, the forward has made six outings off the bench, earning just over an hour of first team action thus far. It had also been rumoured that the forward might switch his allegiances to Scotland, but speaking to clwbpeldroed.org, Jones stated that the striker is still a big part of his plans as long as he can get some regular first team football.

He said: “Speculation is one thing. There have been conversations around that, but no one has told me he’s been selected or attempted to be selected by Scotland. I don’t see it as a threat, he’s still on standby for the squad and we still value Joe’s attributes and qualities. The next step for him now is to focus on his football, get a loan move in January, and we want to support him with that.”