Loanee already up to double figures for the campaign
Luton boss Jack Wilshere sees attacker Gideon Kodua as a hugely ‘important’ part of the Hatters future after Town agreed to sign the West Ham United youngster on a permanent deal this afternoon.
The 21-year-old had arrived at Kenilworth Road in the summer under previous Matt Bloomfield, but it’s since Wilshere took over in October that he really began to flourish in an orange shirt, scoring seven goals in his last 15 league outings to reach double figures, now two in front of midfielder Jordan Clark as the club’s leading scorer.
With Town adding another player on loan during transfer deadline day, Utrecht midfielder Davy van den Berg signing until the end of the campaign, it took them up to six players with Nigel Lonwijk, Kasey Palmer, Emilio Lawrence and Ali Al-Hamadi all brought in on permanent deals, with EFL rules stating only five can be selected in a match-day squad, a problem that has gone disappeared with the acquisition of Kodua.
Gideon Kodua has joined Luton on a permanent basis - pic: David Horn / PRiME Media Imagesplaceholder image
Gideon Kodua has joined Luton on a permanent basis - pic: David Horn / PRiME Media Images
A number of supporters had been hoping that the deal for the former Hammers U18s captain would become permanent and that has happened today, as discussing his impact at the club, Wilshere said: “Gids is someone who’s stepped up massively. He’s taken responsibility in big moments, scored some big goals for us, to the point now where if we’re chasing the game and we’re trying to make a decision who to take off then it’s ‘we can’t take Gids off’ because he’s the guy who might come up with a goal for us.
"I’m delighted and I’ve been clear about it earlier on in the season and the club were clear on it as well that it’s something that we wanted to do and we were just waiting for the right moment to do that. It felt like the right time to reward him as well as he works so hard, he’s so important for the group, his energy and every single day he lightens the place up with his energy, with his spirit and he’s producing on the pitch.
"We need to keep helping him because he’s a young player who I think his ceiling is even higher. We need to keep going with him, but when you have a player who’s as committed as him to his own development then it’s a pleasure for me and the coaches to work with him. I think the club did a really good deal that was done before I got here and when he came on loan, I think they agreed all of that before. So credit to the club for getting that one and he’s an important player for now but also for the future of the club.”
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