Wilshere explains why Saville could leave and denies links to Tykes midfielder

Hatters boss Jack Wilshere has explained why George Saville was allowed to leave Kenilworth Road in the final week of the transfer window, while also ruling out a move for reported target Barnsley midfielder Luca Connell.

The 32-year-old, who made 43 outings for the club after signing on a free transfer last summer following a lengthy spell at Millwall, didn’t feature as much as he would have wanted once Wilshere settled on a midfield trio of Liam Walsh, Jordan Clark and Kasey Palmer, the Northern Ireland international mainly utilised off the bench during the second half of the campaign.

Having not been included in any of the three match-day squads this term, Saville’s time with Town came to an end yesterday when joining fellow League One side Bromley for an undisclosed fee, as Wilshere said: “I like George, I’ve got massive respect for George. It wasn’t always easy for him last season with the game time, but when he did come in, when he was called upon, he gave everything for the team, so loads and loads of respect for George and the career he’s had. I’ve been in constant conversations with him this summer and we felt it was best mutually if he wants to play as much as he does to move on, so I wish him nothing but good luck.”

Saville left before Luton’s 2-0 Carabao Cup second round defeat against Chelsea last night, a game that saw fellow holding midfielder Sverre Sandal miss out on selection Stamford Bridge, despite Wilshere claiming in his pre-match press conference that he was ‘closer’ to getting his chance with the first team. On his absence, the Town manager continued: “Sverre picked up a slight knock. It's frustrating for him because we spoke about it the other day and he was showing something and getting going, so we have to see how it is.”

With Town looking to sign a midfielder before the deadline passes on Tuesday evening, they were linked once more with another move for Barnsley’s Luca Connell, a player who was reportedly tipped to be interesting the Hatters last term as well, playing over 150 times for the Tykes since arriving from Celtic in June 2022. However, asked if there was anything in that at Stamford Bridge, Wilshere gave a firm rebuttal, simply saying: “No.”