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  • Writer's pictureSamuel Roy

How have Luton Town players who departed last summer got on so far?

Last year's play-off achieving Luton Town squad was kept mostly intact last summer, with only 5 players permanently departing. Only one player's loss could be classed as a blow, with the progressive centre-back Kal Naismith swapping Bedfordshire for Bristol City.


Here we take a look at the players who chose to move on from Luton, with all players who left choosing to take a step down...


Danny Hylton

The forward hasn't got fully going at Northampton, although they do sit in 3rd place. The "best signing in League Two by a country mile" as declared by former manager Nathan Jones, has no goals as of yet but he does have a red card in the 93rd minute, typical of the Luton cult hero. He has only started 7 games, with most of his playing time after the first few games coming from sub appearances. It could be argued that his hold up play and time management ability coming off the bench would have been useful for Luton this season, due to the amount of points the Town have dropped from winning positions, but with the signings of Cauley Woodrow and Carlton Morris, there wasn't any place for Hylton in the squad so he decided to move on.


He played a very respectable role in Luton's play-off run last season, with four goals, and in his whole Town career it's an outstanding 54 goals in 147 appearances. It's a shame Danny H's move has not been successful so far, and it is likely he will have an eye on retirement, perhaps thinking of a coaching career. Could we see Hylton managing Luton one day?


Kal Naismith

The highlight for Kal Naismith is probably when Bristol City beat Luton 2-0 and then being part of a Twitter video celebrating against his old club. Apart from that, it hasn't gone well for a player who joined a club with the "best manager in the league" and who joined a club who want to "go and get promoted", with Bristol City sitting in 19th place, compared to Luton in 7th. A more realistic reason would be that Bristol City are offering Kal a much bigger contract than the Hatters were able to afford, so that is a more understandable reason for him leaving at this stage of his career.


A regular starter in Bristol City's back three, he's played 17 times for the Robins. His absence has been felt this season, and he would have been useful during Luton's centre-back injury crisis, as well as his creativity from a defensive position, where last season he got two goals and eight assists, and won the Luton Town Supporter's Trust Player of the Year.


Robert Snodgrass

Robert Snodgrass left Luton on a free transfer to go back to his native Scotland to join Hearts. The experienced midfielder has played in every league game for Hearts, notching 4 assists, which shows he's still got it. A lovely man and a very talented creator in the midfield, Luton could have done with Snodgrass again this season but his decision to go back to Scotland is understandable. At 35 years old, Snods is another player who could have one eye on retirement.


Peter Kioso

Peter Kioso left this summer to Rotherham United after they bid for him, in a move that was unpopular to some Luton fans. The young right back, who can also play centrally, has struggled with injury this season, starting just five times, with one of them playing 45 minutes in Rotherham's 1-1 draw with Luton. Still, the talented and athletic full back has started the last two games for Rotherham, so he'll be hoping to nail down a starting spot.


It sounds like Kioso left the Hatters in search of more playing time, as the right-wing-back spot has always been occcupied by James Bree. Fred Onyedinma has filled in there for Luton this season as the backup to Bree, but Kioso would have been useful to have, as he could have also filled in at centre back, although his injury record this season suggests Luton's decision to let him go hasn't been entirely wrong so far.


Elliot Lee

Another player like Danny Hylton who has been very important to Luton over the years, except last season when he went out on loan to Charlton Athletic, Elliot Lee decided to move on this summer to join the Hollywood team Wrexham. Playing in attacking midfield or up front, the ex Luton ace has 4 goals this season, with 3 of them coming off the bench. Surprisingly, he is still 28, so he'll be hoping to aid Wrexham in their bid to reach the football league. They are second right now, but the National League is a very hard league to get out of, as Luton know all too well.


By Samuel Roy

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