Luton Town are in the process of building a squad ready to challenge for promotion fromLeague One during the 2025-26 season and have reportedly set their eyes on a new transfer target.
After relegation from theChampionship, the Bedfordshire side are likely to lose a number of key players with Alfie Doughty seemingly the latest to be on the way out of Kenilworth Road. With this in mind, the Hatters have reportedly draftedNewcastle United full-back Jamal Lewis as a target to replace Doughty.
The 27 year old will be a free agent this summer after his contract with the Magpies expires and will be looking for a new club to kick-start his career again.
Who is Jamal Lewis?
Lewis started his youth career with his home-town club Luton Town in 2009. The 27 year old decided to leave the Hatters to pursue his career in athletics as an 800-metre runner.
Returning to football in 2014, he signed for Norwich City and progressed through the academy before making his senior debut in 2017. Lewis then went on to cement his place in the Canaries first team and made 100 appearances for the club, winning promotion to thePremier League in 2019.
After impressing in the top flight, Lewis moved to Newcastle United in 2020 but never settled at St James’ Park. The full-back had loan spells with Watford and most recently with Brazilian side São Paulo before injury ended his time in South America.
The 27 year old progressed through the Northern Ireland youth teams as well to go on and make, to date, 39 appearances for the senior team. Lewis is out of contract at Newcastle this summer and is nowreportedly being eyed up by Luton Town.
What could Jamal Lewis bring to Luton Town?
Despite a frustrating period of time with Newcastle, there is evidently logic to Luton’s reported pursuit of Lewis. One attribute the Northern Ireland international would bring to the Bedfordshire side is experience.
Lewis won the Championship with Norwich in 2019 and played in the Premier League for the Canaries and Newcastle until falling out of favour at St James’ Park. Playing in a successful Norwich team and at the highest level of English football will likely benefit Luton Town in League One.
During his most recent spell in the second tier with Watford, the full-back showed his ability defensively against opposition attackers. At Watford, the 27 year old had a 63.9%tackle success rate and won an average of 4.76 ball recoveries per 90 minutes.
The full-back also offers attacking quality to Luton Town as well, with anaverage of 1.94 progressive carriers completed per 90 minutes. Lewis was able to provide quality after his progressive carries, creating an average of 1.07 chances per 90 minutes.
Would Jamal Lewis be a good signing for Luton Town?
It will be a big job for Matt Bloomfield to build a squad capable of challenging for promotion back to the Championship at the first time of asking. Having suffered back-to-back relegation, a number of players may be on high wages from their time in the Premier League.
With this in mind, the Hatters will have to recruit smartly in order to achieve their aim of promotion and Lewis could be a good start. Despite having a frustrating period of time at Newcastle, he still could be a smart addition for the League One club.
His manager Eddie Howe was keen to emphasis thepotential in Lewis:
“He’s got a lot to offer physically, we’ve certainly seen that in pre-season – an incredible athlete”
“He needs consistency of training at the moment and hopefully he can get that”
The consistency that Howe is referring to here is something that Luton Town could provide to Lewis. Having had a number of injuries and loan spells, the 27 year old may need somewhere to settle and start playing regular football again.
Bloomfield predominately deployed a 3-5-2 system during his management of Luton Town last season. This system would suit Lewis as he would be able to play in his left wing-back role.
With the potential departure of Doughty, the Hatters will need to find a replacement. A move for Lewis could be of benefit to both the player and Luton Town ahead of the 2025-26 League One season.