Luton Town suffered their second consecutive relegation in the 2024/25 campaign, finishing 22nd in the Championship, but are close to signing one of the second tier’s most experienced midfielders.

Manager Matt Bloomfield will oversee his first summer transfer window in charge and is reportedly targeting Northern Ireland international George Saville, who is yet to agree to a new deal at Millwall.

The 32-year-old made 49 appearances for the Lions this season but is expected to drop down to League One after being offered “reduced terms” at the Den, according to journalist Richard Cawley.

Hatters look to make first summer signing

Luton were relegated on the final day of the season after a 5-3 defeat to West Bromwich Albion but are now aiming to strengthen their squad with the signing of Saville, who has accumulated almost 400 second-tier appearances in his career.

The former Chelsea academy graduate has had four separate spells at Millwall, playing 241 times, and has also earned 57 caps for the country where his grandmother was born.

He is a box-to-box midfielder and, although goalscoring is not his strong point, he is exceptionally fit and rarely suffers injuries, as shown by having played more than 40 matches in each of the last eight seasons.

He played the third most minutes out of Millwall’s outfield players last season (3,300) and chipped in with one goal and three assists.

He also ranked in the club’s top three performers for tackles, interceptions, winning possession back, blocks and ground duels won.

Where would he fit into Luton’s midfield?

Since Bloomfield took over at Kenilworth Road from Rob Edwards in January, he has favoured a 3-5-2 formation involving three central midfielders, which is where Saville would fit into the team.

On their books currently, they have five players who could occupy those positions: Marvelous Nakamba, Lamine Fanne, Shandon Baptiste, Jordan Clark and Liam Walsh.

Attacking midfielders Thelo Aasgaard and Zack Nelson could also slot into one of those roles if Bloomfield wanted to be more aggressive.

However, despite the depth of options that Luton have, Saville would certainly be a regular starter in the side given his Championship experience and leadership qualities, having captained his country as well.

During the 2024/25 season, the Hatters had an average of 45% possession, the second-highest number of pressing sequences (580) behind champions Leeds United and the third-highest amount of turnovers in high areas (335).

Millwall performed similarly in all three of these areas so Saville should be suited to Bloomfield’s style of play, albeit it would be expected that Luton will have more control of the ball in a lower division given their quality of players.

Who might leave after Saville’s arrival?

Saville’s move to Bedfordshire could mean that a few of Luton’s midfielders have to move on to get regular first-team football.

After Saville’s arrival, Bloomfield now has a powerful and experienced set of central players with Nakamba, Clark and Baptiste joining the Northern Irishman.

All three have played in the Premier League in recent seasons and are highly experienced in the Championship as well, so will most likely be the manager’s first-choice options in the third tier.

However, Nakamba and Baptiste are likely to be on high salaries, having joined from Premier League sides, so may need to be moved on if Luton are to balance their books following relegation.

If they both stay, then young options Fanne and Walsh may need to leave, if they wish to play regularly.

Fanne only joined the club in January from Swedish side AIK, while Walsh signed from Swansea City last summer, but has had issues with his disciplinary record having been sent off three times in the league last season.

Although the signing of Saville would be an impressive deal for the Hatters, it may also spell the end of other midfielders’ times at the club.